


Following a Fairytale

by claraowl



Series: My Heart, Yours [3]
Category: Skip Beat!
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kyoko's face is red basically all 12 chapters, Ren continues to be a massive sap, canon divergent around Saena arc, confessions?, don't take dating advice from a rooster, for all three of these btw, skip beat - Freeform, well maybe do, wow actual plot with fluff? shocker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:22:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 63,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22944709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/claraowl/pseuds/claraowl
Summary: The third part of "The Truth about Onee-san" and "An Offer She Can't Refuse," in which the story comes out - leaving Ren and Kyoko to struggle with explaining their 'date' to Yashiro, Kanae, Lory, and Maria. Is there hope for a happy ending to their fairy tale? Part 3 of the "My Heart, Yours" series.
Relationships: Kotonami Kanae & Mogami Kyoko, Mogami Kyoko/Tsuruga Ren
Series: My Heart, Yours [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1648945
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	1. How Can Reality Be Determined?

**Welcome to the third installment in my now-trilogy-that-was-supposed-to-be-a-one-shot! It's been a long time since I started this fic… and I still don't own Skip Beat!**

Kyoko awoke to the buzzing of her alarm and groaned. She'd been having such a lovely dream… she'd spent the day with her prince, and he'd crowned her a princess. Hence, she did not take well to being awoken. However, as she is Kyoko and therefore work-obsessed, she crawled out of her futon, shut off her daruma-shaped alarm clock, and began preparing herself for the day. Her sleepy gaze fell upon her calendar; a slight shock jolted through her system, and then she was very much awake and beaming.

"Moko's plane gets in today!"

This realization caused her to bustle around at twice her usual speed, albeit with less care than usual. It was this very lack of connection to reality that brought her to terms with the fairy-tale occurrences of the previous day – or, at least, forced her to accept them as reality – when she went to grab her shoes before heading downstairs for breakfast. The shoe-back into which her finger hooked was not that of an ordinary shoe, nor did it have a companion. It was one of the faux-glass slippers from her fairy-tale. And if the shoe was real, then that would mean that… that…

That her impossible dream had been reality.

Her legs gave out beneath her; she was in equal measures happy (for obvious reasons), ashamed (for having taken advantage of her sempai in such a way), and terrified (for having even accepted his offer and thereby allowing him to take an even firmer hold on her heart). She tapped the lonely slipper with her still-fancy nails; the Royalty-treatment had included a manicure and a pedicure, and she'd seen no reason to remove the beautiful artwork. She fully planned on wearing it until she needed to take it off for work, or until it chipped beyond help. Natsu could probably pull off butterflies and her hands were not visible as Bo, so the latter was the more likely of the two options.

Where was the other slipper? Had been left in her bag? Perhaps she had set it aside somewhere when she was half-asleep. She  _ had _ been brought home at midnight, after all, and –

Her cheeks burned. Honestly, how could she have been so – so improper? She was a traditional Japanese woman! Yet she had kissed him – on the cheek, yes, but still! It was just like his thank-you kiss, but… how was she going to face him, and after he sacrificed so much to cheer her up? Even if he'd said he'd enjoyed it as well… and even if he said that she  _ deserved _ it. The memories of these words stilled her for a moment, and then she sent the rest of the Kyokos into a meeting to discuss the problem while she went about the business of her day. Moko was coming back after a month abroad! Her best friend would be home, and she would be there to pick her up – in a horribly ostentatious car the president had insisted upon providing, of course. But the car aside, she was ecstatic, and vowed to treat Moko to a welcome-home meal and ice-cream trip. Thus her day began, and she made a mental note to finish the glitter on the welcome-home-Moko sign.

"Good morning!" she sang, skipping down the stairs and bowing to her landlords.

Taisho nodded, glad to see her in good spirits again. Okami-san greeted the young actress, and then added, "How was your date yesterday?"

Her abrupt question caught Kyoko off-guard. "It… it wasn't a…" she hesitated, the various events of the day mixing with the comments of the people whom they had met and the forming conclusions of the Kyoko meeting. "It was wonderful," she admitted eventually, deciding to leave the question of what to call that day unanswered. Please let the reader note that this is a giant leap of progress, as only the morning prior Kyoko had violently denied the outing being anything close to a date.

"I'm glad to hear that. He treated you well, I take it?" At his wife's words, taisho stilled; did he need to get his carving knife?

"Of course! Tsu—Re— _ he _ ," she decided finally, "wouldn't do anything to hurt me. He wouldn't let me pay for anything, though." She sighed, and taisho resumed cutting up vegetables, slightly appeased. Ren would be permitted to live, though he was still on probation. Thus, Kyoko began her breakfast, with some grunts and a light-hearted interrogation from her landlords. Afterwards, she went back upstairs to finish the poster, and then hurried off to start her day.

Ren's morning did not begin quite so smoothly. He had, for the first time in his professional life as Tsuruga Ren, not awoken on time. 'Awoken' is used in the loosest sense of the word, as he did not sleep; rather, he did not snap out of his Kyoko-induced gaze from the time he left Darumaya until he was very late indeed. This led to a rather hurried morning for him, as he needed to pick up his manager before his day could properly begin – and he needed to get dressed before that could happen. He skipped breakfast, knowing full well that Kyoko would scold him later for it, dressed, and rushed to pick up his manager.

Yashiro paced back and forth in front of his apartment building, debating about whether or not he should call Ren. On one hand, they needed to be on time to protect Ren's professional record; on the other, Ren might still be with Kyoko, and Yashiro would not risk interrupting his favorite potential couple. He was, however, getting close to doing so by the time Ren pulled up. The manager let out a sigh of both relief and disappointment - relief, as they could get to work, and disappointment, as Kyoko was not in the car with Ren. "Thank goodness you're here -"

It was then that he noticed the passenger door of Ren's car. He got in, a smirk curving his features and giggles fighting to get loose. Ren realized his mistake; in his post-date (he didn't care if she would deny it, it was still a date to him) elation, he'd forgotten to remove the pumpkin-carriage car decal. He groaned and pulled onto the road without even greeting his manager.

After a few minutes without questions, he relented. "Good morning. I apologize for being late. I did not sleep well last night."

Yashiro's brain whirred madly after hearing this, of course. "Oh? And did that have anything to do with the Cinderella decal on the side of your car?"

"Not directly." He turned into the parking lot of their first destination of the day.

"Where's Kyoko-chan?"

Ren parked and blinked at him. "I assume that she's at LME by now."

Yashiro sighed heavily, but let that particular angle of attack die. Instead, he asked, "How  _ was _ your date?"

"I believe that she enjoyed herself," Ren admitted, but said nothing more, even when Yashiro squealed about the non-denial of it being a date; they were, after all, running rather late. The director was surprised and rather displeased… but that's not vital to this story, so it shall now switch over to Kyoko, who was walking through the airport with glittery poster in hand. She was early, but did not mind; it was a much better alternative than making her precious Moko-san wait! When Moko got off of the plane, Kyoko fantasized, she would come rushing into her best friend's arms for a giant hug, and then….

"Flight E-7!" crackled over the loudspeaker, jolting Kyoko out of her reverie. That was Moko's flight! She held the sign high.

Kanae stretched and rolled her neck; that had not been a pleasant flight. Her seat partner had been one of her more lascivious co-stars, making for several uncomfortable hours and one actor with demolished pride. Thus it was with no little relief that she stepped off of the plane, dreaming of a long soak in her own bathtub. She walked out into the reception area and was immediately assaulted by a view of something a violent, glittery green.

"Moko! Welcome home!" Kyoko called, waving her poster proudly. She would have hugged her best friend immediately, but said girl was still on the other side of a fence.

"Mo…." the older of the two girls sighed as she stepped around the barrier. "I'm back."

"Moko!" It was then that she flew to her friend; whispers sprung up around them as they embraced (Kanae hugged back for a moment; it  _ had _ been a month, after all), onlookers wondering about the nature of their relationship. "I missed you so much!"

"Yeah, yeah." She wriggled free. "C'mon, I still need to get my luggage."

Kyoko let out a small cheer and linked her arm through Kanae's. "Then let's go! The president sent along a car, too, so we don't have to worry about getting a taxi."

Kanae nodded, a smile working its way onto her features against her will. Knowing the president, the car was likely to be even more glittery than Kyoko's sign. She couldn't quite bring herself to care, however, as she'd missed her friend, even if she would never willingly admit it. The gathering of her luggage was accompanied by chatter about Kanae's trip (Kyoko had resolved to wait until later to talk about her horrible month and one glorious day) and a brief explosion of grudge demons when Kanae's persistent co-star had re-appeared. The poor man beat a hasty retreat, leaving Kanae to reward Kyoko with a brief one-armed hug of thanks. Kyoko then became rather unbearable, which cleared the pathway for them to their Lory-provided, LoveME pink limo. The inside was peacock-themed. Kanae let out a sigh as she settled in next to her best friend. Sebastian shut the door behind them, straightened his peacock hat (which did not look remotely ridiculous, as he is Sebastian and therefore looks good in everything), and got into the driver's seat.

"Oh, yeah - I have your souvenir," Kanae muttered, rummaging in one of her bags and dodging Kyoko's hug simultaneously. "Here."

"Thank you, Moko!" Kyoko squealed. "My best friend got me a present… a souvenir! That's never happened before! Oh,  _ thank you! _ "

"At least open it first." Kanae rolled her eyes. "How else will you know if you like it?"

"It's from Moko! Of course I'll like it! It -" she opened it and squealed - "oh, I  _ love _ it!" It was a paper fan, handpainted with images of sylvan creatures dancing over flowerbuds. After placing it carefully in her lap, she flung her arms around her protesting friend. "Thank you so much!"

Kanae suffered the hug for a few moments before shimmying away. The two girls spent the rest of the ride catching up with the acting portions of each other's lives. It was not until after they had dropped Kanae's suitcases off at her home and entered the LoveME room at LME that the topic of Kyoko's month of sadness appeared. Kanae dragged it from a highly reluctant Kyoko's mouth before pausing. Natsuko slithered into the room unnoticed, her rock lobster costume clicking softly.

"That… is one awful month."

"Yes! I missed you so much!" Kyoko hugged her friend around the waist. "But it wasn't all that bad - I mean, yesterday was wonderful and today you're back! So everything's okay!"

"What made yesterday wonderful?" What could so easily make up for that month?

"Well, um," Kyoko paused, her cheeks coloring slightly, "I knew that you'd be back today, and… um…"

"And?"

"Ah, Natsuko!" Kyoko yelped, seizing her only opportunity for a topic change - she wasn't quite ready to tell her best friend about her date with Tsu-with Ren. Kanae screeched and scuttled backwards; Kyoko knelt down to take the note from her reptilian friend. Natsuko nodded and slithered out of the room. "Moko, the president wants to see you now, alone."

"Fine," Kanae sighed, pushing her bangs back from her face, exasperated. "But this conversation is not over! Got it?"

"Yes," Kyoko murmured, plopping onto one of the heart-shaped couches and tucking her feet beneath her. Kanae looked over her friend once, nodded, and hurried away after the snake to report to Lory.

By this time, Ren and Yashiro had finished the first job of the day and arrived at LME, Yashiro for his paperwork time and Ren for his (unofficial) Kyoko time. The morning had been rather horrible for Ren, who was running on no sleep and no breakfast; he'd not even had time for coffee before his first scene. He'd not let his acting suffer, of course - he was too professional for that - but his temper had been a bit shorter than usual. This was an unfortunate truth, as Yashiro was elated about his favorite ship starting to make its way out of the port and therefore prone to squealing… and teasing.

"So you took Kyoko-chan out on a date?" he inquired - perhaps for the third time, perhaps for the twenty-seventh - as Ren parked the car.

"I've already answered that," Ren bit back, unclenching his fingers from the steering wheel. "My answer has not and shall not change."

Yashiro grinned. "Are you going to go see Kyoko-chan now, then?"

"If she is in the building, I might encounter her. She forgot something last night." His tone was clipped, as were his movements; he unbuckled his seatbelt, retrieved a bag from the back seat, and hurried out of the car.

"Not just  _ something _ \- a special something!" Yashiro chuckled (let it be taken as a victory that he did not giggle, as that would be disgraceful and unbefitting of Ren's image).

"I beg you, be silent." Ren gave a small groan. Yashiro had been like this all morning. If he wasn't such a skilled manager….

Yashiro sniggered, but obeyed. The remainder of their walk into the building occurred in silence punctuated only by various small forms of laughter from the elder of the two men. The two did not part ways upon entering the building, but instead traversed the same path down to the LoveME room. Yashiro, after all, had curiosity to satisfy.

Kyoko was humming to herself and absentmindedly tracing the patterns on her nails when Ren's knock sounded on the door. She stood quickly and bowed as the two men entered the room. "Good morning, Yashiro-san, Tsu-" (Here she paused for a fraction of a second.) "Ren!"

"Good morning, Kyoko," Ren replied as Yashiro dissolved into silent squeals. "Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, yes!" She smiled. "I slept better than I have in a month, and had lovely dreams. What about you?"

"I didn't sleep too well, actually, though I rested for a while." To his surprise, she bowed deeply.

"I'm so sorry, Tsu-Ren!"

"Huh?"

Yashiro regained his composure, if only just. "I've read that sometimes when you can't sleep, you're awake in someone else's dream. Right, Kyoko-chan?"

She nodded, looking to one side, and mumbled, "My brain was replaying yesterday. I apologize for keeping you up at night."

While Yashiro doubled over with silent laughter at the double entende of her words, Ren waved her apologies away. "I'm sure that if that were true, no celebrity would sleep well. I was going over the day, as well."

"Speaking of which," Yashiro interjected before Kyoko could respond, "how was your date with Ren yesterday, Kyoko-chan?"

Ren flinched; yes, he'd thought of it as such, but it was too much to expect Kyoko to think the same. He opened his mouth to contradict his manager for her sake, but was stilled by a feather-light touch on his wrist.

"It… it was lovely," Kyoko murmured, glancing up at the two of them through her lashes, "a perfect fairy tale."

Both Ren and Yashiro froze for a moment, processing what had just been said. Kyoko had not denied that it was a date. She had actually  _ prevented _ Ren from correcting Yashiro. And she - the fairy-obsessed girl - had deemed it a fairy tale.

Yashiro hovered for a moment longer before turning on his heel and sprinting out of the room. The president needed to know this information.

Ren blinked. So he  _ hadn't _ imagined her words last night, her admission then of their fairytale, their chance of a happy ending. Her demons huddled behind Mio, wearing protective suits and shuddering. "I'm glad to hear that, princess."

She ducked her head. "Thank you again."

"The pleasure was mine, I assure you." He paused, then reached into his bag. "Speaking of fairytales…."

"Yes?" She blinked up at him.

"I am searching for a girl - nay, a woman - with whom I parted ways at midnight last night; all she left behind was a lone glass slipper." He withdrew it from his bag and continued, "Would you, perchance, be willing to try it on, to see if you are indeed she of whom the faeries speak?"

Her mind spun for several moments before she could form words. "I would."

"Then please, princess, take a seat."

She sat down upon the LoveME couch, feeling ridiculously nervous; she knew it was hers, and yet… what if for some reason it didn't fit? What if this wasn't her fairytale, even though she'd claimed it as such? It's not like that hadn't happened to her before… so why should she expect a happy ending this time around? Her hands clasped together in front of her. Why was he just standing there? Did he realize that she could never be worthy?

"Princess… your shoe, please," he, requested, smiling. At her blank look, he added, "Please remove your right shoe."

Oh.

She laughed and bent over to remove it. "Sorry."

"Not at all." He knelt down in front of her and was all solemnity when he took her ankle into his hand. The shoe slipped on without any problems - it had been made for her, after all.

Her breath caught as he stood up and offered her his hand. She took it; he helped her stand and had to restrain himself from pulling her to him. "It fits, princess."

She made no response as he kissed her hand, instead staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at him.

"Princess Kyoko…?" Had he crossed one of her invisible lines? "Is something wrong?"

His words snapped her from her daze. "I… no, I'm fine! I-I just can't quite believe that this amazing fairy tale… is happening to me." This last part came out as a whisper with a slight laugh; the glance she gave him after she'd finished speaking was shy and quickly finished when she ducked her head.

He smiled. "I'm glad that it is… and hope that it will be allowed to continue," he paused for a moment before adding, "now… and forever."

His intentions attempted to fly over her head, but her angels were having none of this. They snatched the intentions out of the air and shoved them into the Kyoko meeting room, right in front of the boss Kyoko's eyes, demanding, "Mama.  _ Look. At. It _ !" Kyoko, forced to realize what exactly was occurring and what he meant, flushed a rather pleasant shade of chartreuse.

Fortunately or unfortunately (as the case may be), Kanae re-entered the room at that moment. "What the-?"

"Oh, fluffernutters," Kyoko squeaked.

**Aaaaaand chapter break! :D Last line is dedicated to one of my sempais, who says that frequently. Doesn't that so fit Kyoko?**

**This was supposed to be a one-shot. No, I'm not just talking about this particular story… "The Truth about Onee-san" was supposed to be a one-shot. Now it's a _trilogy_.**

**Let me know your thoughts!**


	2. How Can They Discover the Events?

**By the way, I checked the manga - Jelly really does call Ren "Ren-chan." Also, I had a lot of fun with Lory in this chapter. :)**

**I still don't own Skip Beat! This chapter starts out a little bit before the last one ended. :)**

Yashiro hurried through the halls of LME, his metaphorical seams nearly bursting from the strain of containing his excitement. This was  _ happening _ ! Whatever elaborate scheme Ren had used yesterday had obviously worked - why, Kyoko-chan had basically declared her love for him! No, she'd not said the words (not in front of Yashiro, at least), but with Kyoko-chan, to have her admit that it was a date was tantamount to an engagement! The president needed this information immediately, if he didn't already have it. This was a likely possibility, as Lory's information network was unrivalled in Japan (in fact, the political leaders of the day frequently asked Lory for inside information, but were consistently rebuffed).

The elevator was opening when Yashiro rounded the corner, which was fortunate; if it hadn't been, he'd have run up the stairs instead, which would have robbed him of his breath and made his report much more difficult to understand. He slipped inside the mechanical box of quick vertical motion, startling its inhabitants. Unfortunately for Yashiro, one of the two inhabitants happened to be a lobster clutching what appeared to be a miniature guitar in one claw. Due to Yashiro's sudden movements upon entering the mechanical box of quick vertical motion, the lobster had scuttled backwards and shifted its claws; this led to a rather awful set of notes emitting from the miniature, fully functional guitar.

"Sorry about him," winced the other inhabitant of the elevator. The doors slid shut as she bent down to adjust the lobster's leash and adjusting his aqua-pack. "It's his first day on active duty, so he's a bit skittish."

"No, not at all. I'm a bit out of sorts myself - I just received some extremely good news to report to the president." He bowed slightly. "I apologize for frightening your charge. My own can be a bit clammed up sometimes."

"Oh, are you in charge of his shellfish?" inquired Lory's professional lobster wrangler.

"Unfortunately not; I manage one of his talents."

She laughed. "And does this talent have anything to do with your trip to report to the resident president love-mon?"

He smirked and adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps." The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. "Is this your floor?"

"Yup. Nice talkin' to you. Good luck with the prez!" She clicked her fingers twice. "C'mon, Lawrence, we've got band practice."

Yashiro chuckled as the doors closed behind the odd pair, then clapped his hands together. Ren and Kyoko were calling each other by their  _ given names  _ \- and Kyoko had admitted to their outing being a date! The president was going to love this. The elevator dinged again, admitting Yashiro to the president's floor. He rushed over to the door, punched in the code reserved specifically for occasions such as this (7-3-6-5-9-6-5-6), and slipped into Lory's office. What he saw stilled his excited explanations on his lips.

Lory sat at his large, mossy boulder-desk with his claws linked together under his chin. The office that day appeared to be an odd mix between a seventies' American dance club and the bottom of the ocean. Speakers stood off to one side, disguised by something that looked suspiciously like a cross between an octopus, a fern, and a gorilla, but they were temporarily silent. A small group of lobsters dozed in a nearby tank, their wranglers resting on coral-shaped chairs. Lawrence was not among them, nor was his wrangler. Sebastian, who is Sebastian and therefore not only looks fabulous in his rock lobster costume but also detects all movement, showed Yashiro to a seashell-shaped saddle chair. None of these admittedly odd occurrences had silenced Yashiro; rather, he had been shushed by the expression on Lory's face.

"I would like you to confirm something I heard from your director. Did the aforementioned co-star made inappropriate advances?"

"To an extent, yes, sir," Kanae affirmed, her voice brisk. She sat on the lone ordinary chair in the room (though it did, of course, have carvings of fish on the back).

"To what extent?" Yashiro wondered how a man in a rock lobster costume - something fashioned after a silly foreign song - could look menacing. Let it never be said that the president did not take care of his talents.

"It was mostly verbal - comments on my physique and the like - though he did try to feel me up at one point. I slapped him after he attempted to cup me."

Lory nodded and smiled slightly. "That's my girl."

Kanae looked at him, surprised. "I thought physical violence makes for bad press."

"Violence, yes. Self-defence, no. I'm very glad that you stood up for yourself." He clicked one of his claws. Sebastian appeared at his side. "Make a note that the young man in question is not to be allowed within LME without a security guard. Also, schedule an appointment for me with the head of his company. I will not stand for anything of this sort. Love is not something that should be forced, nor is it something so vulgar.  _ I will not stand for the endangerment of my talents. _ "

Sebastian nodded and melted into the shadows to do as he was bid.

Kanae blinked. "Thank you, sir. I'm fairly certain that it won't happen again, though."

"It had better not… but why do you say that?" He shifted; a tone of curiosity entered his voice.

"Kyoko set her demons on him when he attempted to make another move on me at the airport. He ran away screaming about witchcraft." She rolled her eyes. "If I'd known he was superstitious, I could've just shoved that cursed luck charm she gave me in his face."

Lory nodded, displaying his approval. "You had best keep that on you, just in case."

"Yes, sir."

He cleared his throat and adjusted his claws. "Other than the problem with your co-star - which I assure you shall be taken care of immediately - did your filming abroad go well?"

"Quite well. We finished everything on schedule."

He nodded. "Unless you require anything else, you are dismissed. Welcome home, by the way."

"No, sir. Thank you." She bowed and left, now with a bit more respect for her boss.

"You have a report for me, Yukihito-kun?" Lory inquired once the seaweed door shut behind Kanae and the speakers (and lobsters) had resumed playing "Rock Lobster."

Yashiro, temporarily distracted by the events he'd witnessed, snapped back to the present. "Yes, sir! Kyoko-chan has just confirmed that she and Ren went on a date yesterday!"

Lory did not move for a moment. "Are you quite sure that she used the word 'date'?"

"They both did - she actually prevented Ren from correcting me when I asked her about it!"

The president and grand rock lobster blinked. "She  _ prevented _ him from correcting you?"

"Yes! They're using given names now, too, and she said it was a fairy tale for her!"

"And then…?" he prompted, pinching his leg with his lobster claws.

"Then I ran up here to tell you. Also, he had a Cinderella-esque sticker on the passenger door of his car this morning and brought her something that looked suspiciously like a glass slipper when we went to the LoveME room."

Puzzle pieces began connecting in Lory's head. "He asked me yesterday for a good, discreet photography studio. Did he…?" He flipped open his phone and sent a quick message. Moments later, he received a reply. After sending his thanks, he looked up at Yashiro with a grin. "He asked Ten for a special set of makeover two days ago, but she was busy, so she sent him to an apprentice. He'd wanted to know if she could make two people a  _ princess _ and a  _ prince _ ."

Yashiro's jaw dropped, but further discussion was interrupted by Sebastian, who appeared with a phone. "The president of the young man's company would like to schedule a meeting with you and discuss what is to be done about his charge."

Lory nodded and took the phone, sending Yashiro off to watch the happenings on the security camera. After all, the safety of his charges was more important than meddling in their romantic affairs, even if the latter was more enjoyable than the former. Sebastian showed Yashiro into a large fish head, where he watched the proper camera through the trout's left eye and listened to the speaker in its right viewing orifice. The all-knowing and ever-awesome Sebastian then went to contact the discreet photographer, leaving Yashiro to observe the drama alone.

Kyoko was sporting a brilliant chartreuse coloration and Ren was watching her with a mixed expression, causing Yashiro to wonder what on earth he had missed. He was left to wonder, as at that moment Kanae re-entered the room.

"What the-?" She took in the scene before her. What could have  _ possibly _ happened in the past twenty-two minutes to account for this?

"Oh, fluffernutters," Kyoko squeaked.

Kanae shut the door behind her and turned to her best friend. "Does this sense of impending chaos have anything to do with what you were avoiding telling me before?"

"Uh- um - um…." Please let the reader take a moment to appreciate the full extent of Kyoko's panic, and the many reasons for it: One, her heart was in a fragile balance between accepting the fact that she was in love with Ren and actually  _ wanting _ to do something about that fact. Two, her angels had forced her to realize that if she were to act on her feelings, they would most likely be completely reciprocated - something foreign to her in all cases except that of sisterly love. Three, Ren had heard that she was trying to hide yesterday from Moko, as if she were ashamed or ungrateful (both blatant mistruths; she just wasn't sure how to word it). Four, Moko had seen her blush in Ren's presence and had no doubt by now seen the glass slipper. Five, the impending explanation might decide whether or not she still had a best friend and whether or not Ren would retract his words (in props to Kyoko, the former seemed more realistic to her than the latter, for once).

"I was returning something she had left behind when I gave her a ride home yesterday," Ren smiled, stepping back from Kyoko slightly. "Welcome back, by the way; how was your trip?"

Kanae did not answer, but instead continued staring at Kyoko, silently demanding an explanation.

"Um… Ren, would you mind giving us a few minutes? Please?"

He took heart from the fact that she had still used his given name. "Not at all. I should go find Yashiro anyway, so please excuse me." The pair bowed to each other and he left the room.

Kanae raised one eyebrow. "Well?"

"I'm sorrrrrrryyyyyyy…." Kyoko slumped to the floor in her usual dogeza, explanation starting to spill out of her mouth. "I-was-just-really-happy-and-wasn't-sure-how-to-explain-it-'cause-I'm-still-processing-it-and-I- _ did _ -want-to-tell-you-I-just-didn't-know-how-please-don't-hate-me-Moooookooooooooooo…."

The elder girl pushed the heel of her hand against her forehead. "Just tell me slowly... what happened, exactly?"

"I-I can't tell you here. It's not… not secure." She glanced at one of Lory's cameras; back in the fish head, Yashiro squirmed.

"Fine."  _ Deep breaths, Kanae.  _ "Do you have work today?"

A nod. "Late this afternoon, at TBM."

"Do you work early tomorrow?"

"No. 'Box R' doesn't start until two."

"Good. Then I'm coming to get you after work tonight so you can sleep over and explain what the hell is going on." After dodging Kyoko's overly-excited hug, she continued, "Why are your shoes mismatched, anyway?"

Kyoko lowered her gaze to her pseudo-glass slipper, cheeks a tad flushed. "I'll… um… explain later. It has to do with… yesterday."

Her best friend gave her a look of utter disbelief. "Mo, he's sappier than I thought." The in-trout Yashiro snickered at this comment.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Let's go grab some lunch. I'm dying for some yakisoba."

Kyoko paused for a moment, wondering if she ought to let Ren know why she'd not mentioned the day yet to Kanae, before deciding that he wouldn't fret over it. "Okay!"

She made it all of two feet forward before stumbling (the authoress would like the reader to realize that her glass slipper had a heel while her ordinary shoe did not, thus leaving poor Kyoko horribly unbalanced) against Kanae. She attempted to bow an apology, but instead overbalanced, sending the pair crashing to the floor. This mishap resulted in further apologies, one highly irritated Kanae, and a shoe change. The pair then stood and made their way (sans accidents) to the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, Ren was wandering semi-aimlessly around LME, as he both wanted (in order to get on with the day) and did not want (due to the questioning, teasing, and squealing that was sure to come) to find his manager. Thus, he happened to encounter a certain witch by the name of Jelly Woods.

"Ren-chan!"

"Ah, hello, Miss Woods." He bowed. "Thank you for your assistance two days ago. It helped the proceedings immensely."

"Oh, good! So Kyoko-chan enjoyed them! I really wanted to turn you two royal myself, but I was on a movie set all day yesterday." A sigh escaped her lips. "Next time I'll be sure to! Did the girls at Telling treat you two well?"

Ren stared at her. "Miss Woods… I never mentioned Kyoko during our phone call…."

"Well, it  _ was _ for her, wasn't it?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I…." He did not want to deny it, as Kyoko might somehow hear of this (and he himself did not want to deny any part of the previous day's reality of daydreams), but by the same token did not want Lory to discover it, as chaos would inevitably erupt. He sighed; the president would find out anyway. "Yes. And yes, the people of Telling treated us very well. Kyoko loved the R-treatment to the point of speechlessness."

Jelly nodded her approval. "Good! I'm glad that you two are finally starting to clear up your blatant sexual tension."

"I beg your pardon?"

She rolled her eyes at him, much in the way his mother might have.

_ I… I should call Mom tonight. If I've got enough courage to push a little further with Kyoko, surely I can handle a simple phone call, right? _

"You two are so obvious, Ren-chan. I'm glad you're making progress."

_...Right? _ "Me, too."

"At this rate, you should be together by her next birthday! She'll be legal then." She winked at him before remembering something. "By the way…"

"Yes?"  _ Maybe… maybe after I talk to Kyoko tonight, I can call Mom. If my princess soothes my nerves first, then maybe… maybe I can make amends. I need to fix me before I can ask her to accept me… even if she's the reason  _ why  _ I can start to fix me. _

"That tiara you asked my opinion on in the email… did you give it to her?"

"Yes, I did."  _ Perhaps I can trust her with this much, as thanks. _ "I gave it to her… and crowned her the princess of  _ Cor Meum. _ "

"Is that… Latin?" Jelly inquired, tilting her head just as Kyoko did on occasion.

Ren smiled at this similarity. "Yeah.  _ Cor Meum _ ."

"How does it translate?"

He continued smiling, but did not answer; Yashiro saved him from this by coming to fetch him for their next job. He bowed and thanked Jelly again before departing, Yashiro by his side. The elder of the two men smirked and began making as many prince-related comments as he could without bringing forth the demon lord.

Jelly trotted upstairs to see Lory. "Hello, darling."

"Greetings, Ten!" Lory smiled, the song blaring from the speakers. "I have good news."

"About Ren-chan and Kyoko-chan?" she giggled, coming to sit on his rock-desk.

"No, but that, too." He chucked under her chin with a claw. "I've just successfully extracted a formal apology from a rival corporation for the way one of their talents treated Kotonami-kun. The matter is resolved and fortunately, she doesn't seem upset by it."

"That is good news," she agreed. "I hear such wonderful things about her from Kyoko-chan."

"Speaking of Mogami-kun, you said that you'd heard the good news?"

She laughed. "Heard it? Darling, I helped it happen!"

"Oh? Do tell." He leaned forward, claws clicking together behind her back.

"I already told you, didn't I? Ren-chan called me two nights ago, asking if I could turn two people royal. I couldn't - you know I was on-set for the movie that day" (he nodded) "-so I sent him to Telling."

Lory chuckled. "I bet that brat got a kick out of making it a pun."

"Really? Ren-chan doesn't seem like a very punny guy to me." She stuck out her tongue.

"You never cease to amuse me, my dear Ten."

"Glad to hear it, darling. That means you'll never get sick of me."

He leaned back in his chair, a smile causing his moustache to flick. "You never know. I might."

She pouted. "You're so mean, darling. I guess I won't tell you what new information I got out of Ren-chan about what he did for Kyoko-chan."

Lory straightened. "You got Ren to tell you something?" Did that mean that he was coming to terms with what could or could not be done by the person that boy perceived himself to be?

She nodded, but kept her mouth firmly shut. Natsuko slithered onto the desk beside her and adopted an equivalent facial expression.

"Ten, what did he tell you?"

She shook her head. Natsuko mirrored her action, causing her costume's claws to shake and play a few notes on the attached guitar.

"I'm sorry, Ten. I was kidding. Please tell me?"

"Darling, you are a grown man. A grown man wearing an adorably funky rock lobster costume, but a grown man nonetheless. You should not be able to pull off a pouty face that well." She sighed and looked away from him; Natsuko settled onto her lap in sympathy (or to absorb her warmth; the world may never know). After a moment, she glanced back. "Were you really kidding?"

"I swear on my costumes, Ten."

She smiled. "He showed me a picture of the tiara he got for her and told me that he'd - and I quote - 'crowned her the princess of  _ Cor Meum _ .'"

"Of…  _ Cor Meum _ ? Are you sure?"

"Yes; why?"

Tears sprung to his eyes. "My dear Ten, don't you realize what this means?"

"I don't speak Latin, darling."

"Why, this is a confession! In the wrong language, of course, but if she were to do even the tiniest bit of research-!"

Natsuko rose from Jelly's lap and swayed along with Lory's flailing hands. The president of LME tended to speak with his hands when overly excited.

"Then what?" Ten attempted to ask, but went unheard by the spazzing Lory.

"And to think, the boy did his research on a romance language  _ just so he could say that _ \- to think that boy was brave enough to get his head on straight and confess-!"

"LORY!"

He ceased speaking and stared at Ten, who was understandably frustrated. "Yes?"

"Would you be so kind as to explain what  _ Cor Meum _ even means before you continue your rant?" she huffed, arms crossed. Natsuko nodded.

"My darling, dearest darling Ten," Lory beamed, drawing both her and Natsuko into a hug, " _ Cor Meum _ is Latin for  _ my heart _ ."

Ten rested her head against Lory's chest. "So he crowned her the princess of his heart?"

Lory nodded. "Not queen, though. Not yet."

Natsuko hissed her displeasure.

Ten smiled up at him. "Well, yeah. They need to get married and have a baby first. Then she'll be queen and their little girl will be his princess."

"Have I ever told you that I love the way your mind works, Ten?"

She giggled as he pulled back from their embrace. "Only every time we work together, darling."

"And it shall never become any less true," he declared with a smile.

**Soooo… yeah! Unexpected Lory/Ten fluff! I didn't know that I shipped this. My brain surprised me, as the two just started flirting. Hm. :/ Maybe it's because most of this was typed while listening to He is We's "Happily Ever After"?**

**Find the RWBY reference - it's near the beginning - for a little teaser for the very end. ;) Or figure out why the special code is that number sequence… doing both will result in something extra-special!**

**Sorry that there wasn't too much action in this chapter! I needed a bit more setup than I had. -_- Next chapter may include a cameo from Bridge Rock, so stay tuned… and drop me a review on your way out! :)**

**Once again,** **_this entire thing was supposed to be a one-shot._ ** **I blame Lory.**


	3. How Can They Tell Her?

**Thank you a million spastic times to my two sempais, who both have helped me greatly with this fic. For the sake of the story, kindly ignore everything happening with Saena. I do not own Skip Beat, as it would be much fluffier if I did. Enjoy!**

"...so then he flew backwards and smacked against the stunt mat! I thought I was going to die laughing," Kanae said through a mouthful of yakisoba. "This is good. I missed Japanese food like mad."

"It was the same for me after coming back from Guam. I just wanted to eat  _ anything _ Japanese, even if I didn't ordinarily care for it!" Kyoko laughed. Her bento box was on the table in front of her; today, the theme was Pokemon.

"Guam… that was for your dangerous mission, right?" She slurped a noodle, only to have it come up too quickly and smack her nose. Fortunately for Kyoko, this occurrence distracted Kanae sufficiently so that the question was forgotten - even if Kyoko did freeze for a moment at the possible danger. But then, of course, she laughed at the expression on her best friend's face, earning her a glare before Kanae, too, laughed.

"I missed you, Moko," she giggled, propping her hand on her chin. "I was so lonely without you!"

Kanae flushed. "So you've said. Repeatedly."

"Didn't you miss me, too? Your very best friend? At least a little?"

Kanae took another bite of her yakisoba and shrugged, not meeting her friend's eyes. Kyoko wondered vaguely if puppy-dog eyes would work on her as well as they had worked on Ren at the Takarada mansion. Natsu, for the sheer sadistic pleasure of it, suggested that she try it. Setsu complained that since the puppy-dog eyes had been learned from nii-san, they should be used on nii-san alone. Bo made no comment, as he was asleep. In the background of the Kyoko meeting room, Annabel chatted with the Kuon boy about what a sap he'd be when he grew up, but how she'd love him anyway. The demons huddled around Mio, sniffling, while her ever-increasing number of angels giggled and swooned over the thought of Ren's heavenly smile.

"...Oi. You've got a weird look on your face."

Kyoko's gaze snapped from inward to outward. "S-Sorry, Moko! I was in a Kyoko meeting."

For a moment, Kanae looked as if she wanted to ask what her friend was talking about, but decided against it. With Kyoko, this type of thing was often too bizarre for simple, sane explanations. Instead, she changed the topic to something safer. "What's the news on 'Box R'? I meant to ask you earlier, but forgot."

"Oh!" Kyoko smiled. "We're almost done filming. The director's talking about making a second season if there's good feedback. I hope it goes well!"

"Will Natsu be in the second season?"

She nodded, finishing the last few bites of her bento. "The first season will end on something of a cliffhanger for that, 'cause Natsu disappears into the background and lets Amamiya-san's character take the heat. I feel kind of bad for her, but Natsu doesn't care in the slightest - dirty right hand and all that, you know."

"Mo, Natsu's harsh. Do me a favor and don't set her on me." Kanae finished her yakisoba and stood to dispose of her tray. Kyoko also stood after packing up her bento box.

"Don't worry! Almost all of my characters like you. Natsu has the idea that you'd be a good comrade." She grinned.

Kanae chose not to respond to that, and was saved the trouble of changing the topic by the appearance of a frilly comet. "Onee-san! I remembered something!"

"Hello, Maria-chan! What did you remember?" Kyoko beamed at her honorary younger sister, returning her hug (read: death grip).

"We never set the voodoo dolls on fire when you slept over! We got so caught up in playing Truth or Dare with everyone that we forgot!"

Kyoko gasped. "You're right! I completely forgot about it as soon as Annabel arrived. We could do it now - I have a little while before I need to get going for work. Where's the nearest fireplace?" Please note that she did not ask if there was a fireplace in LME; rather, she asked where the nearest one was, implying that she did not doubt the existence of more than one in this utterly strange building.

"Um… what?" Kanae inquired, raising one hand to shoulder height. "What are you talking about? Why are we being pyromaniacs?"

"Since Shotaro-baka was so mean to onee-san, we're going to set the voodoo dolls of him on fire, so pain and suffering will fall upon him!"

"You mean… like an effigy?" Kanae was getting a headache. Poor, poor Kanae. If only she'd known what was to come that evening.

"Yes! Exactly!" Maria beamed and grabbed both elder girls by the hand. "C'mon, there's a fireplace on the third floor that's not used much. We can burn them there!" Having said this, she dashed off, dragging them along. They managed to not crash into anyone, though there were many close calls. After a brief ride up the mercifully empty elevator, the trio crashed somewhat unceremoniously (and, in Kanae's case, unwillingly) into the fireplace-bearing room. There they met Sawara, who was toasting marshmallows on what appeared to be a garden rake. The four humans started at each other for a moment before Kyoko snapped back to her senses.

"Good afternoon, Sawara-san! Are you making bait for the rock lobsters?" She bowed.

He chuckled. "Good afternoon, and yes. How did you guess?"

"I combined a complete lack of logic with today's theme," she giggled. "When you're done, may we use that fireplace? We've got something that needs to be burned, but would release smoke unsuited for cooking."

Sawara paused for a moment, mildly terrified, then nodded. "Yes, of course."  _ It's better not to ask, especially when both she and Maria-chan are involved…. _

"Thank you!" Maria squealed. She then turned to Kyoko; the pair began talking at length about the proper burning of effigies. Kanae sighed and attempted to block them out, but knew better than to try to escape.

"...Well, that's what I heard, at least. I don't think that it matters too much, though."

"Why not, onee-san?"

Kyoko pondered this for a moment. "I guess… I just don't think about him that much anymore. Maybe… I'm not as angry anymore?" She furrowed her brow, thinking.

"B-But onee-san! He did so many awful things to you!" Maria protested, distressed. How could her onee-san be so blase about something so awful?

"I know, but…." She blinked. Her angels squealed, egging her on to the long-awaited conclusion. "I guess I just don't  _ need _ to care anymore, so I… just… don't. I… um…."

"Good. So toss them into the fire and be done with them."

"Moko?" Kyoko looked up from her internal debate, questioning.

"You said you don't care anymore, right? Use this for closure. Get rid of any grip he might have left on you." She tilted her head back slightly, hand on her hip. "Plus, we can watch the bastard go up in flames."

Unnoticed, Sawara began making sense of the puzzle, though he was understandably confused - after all, he'd always believed that Kyoko loved Fuwa to the point of fanaticism. He would have thought further on this subject (and on what progress he'd just overheard), but his marshmallows were in danger of catching aflame. This impending fiasco (imagine the consequences of burnt lobster bait!) distracted him, and he thus lost track of the conversation. Fortunately, none of the marshmallows burned, so he was able to make the required number of s'mores without further difficulty. When he stood to leave, he did not notice the odd atmosphere in the room.

"Would you three like me to leave the rake and leftover marshmallows for you?"

"No thanks," Maria murmured, sucking on the first knuckle of her pointer finger in thought. "We're good."

He shrugged and left to deliver both the s'mores and the tidbit of news to Lory - who, of course, had decided that any and all information pertaining to Kyoko's background must be gathered for the sake of her own safety. The trio of girls stood in silence for a few moments before Kyoko knelt on the floor and tossed the first doll into the flames. Smoke billowed out of the fireplace and into Kyoko's face, causing her to cough; Maria screamed an exorcism spell. Kanae waved the smoke away from her face and observed, with some vindictive pleasure, as the flames engulfed the doll and slowly turned it to ash. Maria giggled and handed her honorary onee-san the next doll. This time, Kyoko stood back from the fireplace when she tossed the doll to its doom.

Around the fourth doll's burning, Maria said, "By the way, onee-san, did you ever take Ren-sama up on the offer he made you during Truth or Dare?"

Kyoko froze in the act of putting the doll in the fire; it tumbled from her fingers (seemingly in slow motion - honestly, it was as if they were in a manga or something) and into the fire, which hissed and spat its displeasure at the latest kindling. Kanae raised an eyebrow. "What promise?"

"Oh, the one about making her a princess for a day and being her prince if she wanted." Maria smiled.

"H-h-h-how did you know about that?" Kyoko squeaked as Kanae's palms was re-acquainted with her forehead.

"Sebastian," Maria stated, and with that simple statement, Kyoko understood, for Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore both hears and knows all. "Did you accept yet?"

"I… it… um…"

Kanae raised an eyebrow at her stuttering comrade-in-pink. "Go on. Tell her about your day yesterday."

"So you did accept it! How did it go?" Maria beamed at her elder sister, her excitement almost as tangible as Armstrong sparkles (though perhaps not quite so pink).

Kyoko tossed another Shotaro doll into the fire before answering. "It… it was wonderful. We went to the park and communed with the faeries!"

"Ren-sama can see faeries?" Maria demanded in a gasp, jolting to her feet. "Why was I not aware of this?"

"He can't, actually," Kyoko sighed as Kanae looked on in disbelief. "The faeries cast a spell on him so that he could see them for just that day, though! They stole his breath away."

_ Sure,  _ they  _ were what stole his breath away. _ Kanae rolled her eyes but continued to listen, so that she could gather a complete picture of the day - or as complete as Kyoko would tell Maria while within Lory's mechanical earshot.

"And then? And then?" Maria bounced on the balls of her feet. "What happened after that?"

"Um, we went for lunch at a family restaurant and had hamburg steak with eggs. They were delicious! And after that…." Kyoko's voice trailed off; her cheeks reddened.

"After that?" her younger sister prompted, after an awkward pause.

"We rode a carousel! It was a long while away, though, so we had to drive. And he had a Disney movie song playlist for us to listen to on the way! And get this - he's never seen  _ Tangled _ !"

Maria was understandably shocked. "But even Moko-san and I have seen that - Grandfather had us watch it on one of his Disney-themed days! How did Ren-sama escape?"

"He was abroad then, remember?" Another Shotaro doll was sacrificed to Calcifer's distant, non-magical cousin.

"Oh, yeah…." The small girl nodded. "It sounds like you had fun! I wish I could've been there."

"I would've invited you to come, but it wasn't my place. Ren was in charge of everything that day. Maybe the two of us could go visit the faeries or the carousel on my next day off?"

Maria was so excited by this thought that she almost missed a very vital part of Kyoko's statements. Unfortunately for Kyoko, 'almost' does not mean that she did. "Onee-san…"

"Yes?" The second-to-last doll met a smokey, fiery death.

"You call Ren-sama by his given name now, without honorifics." She gigged, then wondered what her grandfather would do with this information. She glanced at her shell-watch. "Oh, I promised that I'd meet Ten-san for tea! I need to go! Bye-bye, onee-san, Moko-san!" With a wave, she skipped off to eat some crumpets. Kanae turned to a very red-faced Kyoko.

"Was that all?"

"...No."

Kanae sighed. "I'll leave you to your burnings. See you after work." Then she, too, took her leave. Kyoko wistfully watched the last Shotaro doll burn, mourning the wasted fabric and time, before getting to her feet. If she wanted to make it to TBM on time, she needed to leave now - her bike tires were flat, after all, so she'd be walking.

Meanwhile, Maria had just burst into Lory's office. "Grandfather! Grandfather! I have big news!"

"Hello, Maria-chan," Jelly greeted from the hermit crab next to Lory. Maria dropped a quick curtsy to Jelly, the scales on her rainbow fish dress sparkling.

The rock lobster looked up from his mossy seat at the clam-shell table. "What news, my favorite granddaughter?"

"First off, I'm your only granddaughter-"

"-which is why you're my favorite-"

"-and second off, I have news on the Ren-sama and Kyoko-onee-san front."

"You what?" Jelly blinked.

"Do tell! Come-come, sit!" Lory gestured to an empty seahorse chair. "What news have you of the TsuGami?"

"The what?" Maria crinkled her nose.

"The TsuGami. Tsuruga-Mogami. We couldn't think of a proper mash of their given names, so we combined their surnames," Jelly explained. "But nevermind that. Tell us!"

Sebastian handed Maria a crumpet, as he is Sebastian and can sense when such foods are needed for tales. Maria nodded her thanks; he melted back into the shadows. "I found out some of what they did yesterday when Ren-sama fulfilled the offer he made her during Truth or Dare."

Lory held up a hand. "Wait. How do you know what offer he made?"

"I asked Sebastian. He heard it."

Lory snapped his fingers. "Sebby."

Sebastian appeared at his side, ever-dutiful to the point of not objecting to ridiculous nicknames. "Yes, my lord lobster?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask, sir."

Lory slapped his forehead with his rock lobster claw. "Of course! Now, everyone, kindly tell me what information you have gathered. Sebastian, what was this offer of which my lovely little rainbow fish speaks?"

Sebastian nodded and drew up a water-screen to replay his thoughts and observances.

_ He shifted tentatively closer to her, placing one hand on the side of her away from him so that he engulfed her without trapping her. He swallowed and leaned close to her, eyes shutting when his lips nearly brushed against her ear. He murmured to her, softly, so that none but she could hear what he said. _

_ "Mogami-san, you are very familiar with princesses, yes?" _

_ Lory and Maria watched, intrigued. Kyoko – who had fully returned from Annabel while Ren was in his stupor – sat, slightly stiff, in Ren's almost-embrace. While at first downcast from something she refused to name, her eyes were soon lit with curiosity at his murmur. _

_ "Of course, what of them?" _

_ Ren murmured softly once more, his lips now brushing against her earlobe, "If you ever want someone to treat you like one, let me know, and I will. I could even be your prince, if you want me to." _

_ Kyoko's face grew pink – though from his words or his touch, the observers could not be certain (except for Sebastian, of course, who is Sebastian and therefore hears all). But even they could not miss the look of absolute longing that she gave him as he drew away, one that nearly snapped his control and completely melted Lory's heart – a look of longing tinged with something she refused to name, a dark something broken only by the purest light… a something that he could not yet give her, and a something that she was not yet ready to receive. _

Lory nodded approvingly; no one questioned the water-thought-screen, as far stranger things have been seen in the presence of a Takarada. Maria took another bite of her scone before standing up to give her report. "Kyoko-onee-san said that they communed with the faeries, ate hamburg steak - her favorite meal - and then rode a carousel. Also, she's now calling him 'Ren' now."

Natsuko slithered out of a nearby seashell as Lory nodded. "I heard that last bit from Yukihito-kun, so thank you for confirming it. He also told me - and the ever-lovely Ten confirmed - that both parties involved consider yesterday an actual date. This is immense progress. Ten, would you re-cap for Maria what you told me?"

"Of course, darling." Jelly smiled. "Ren-chan took Kyoko-chan to be dressed up as a princess and himself as a prince yesterday. He also had a tiara specially made for her and crowned her the princess of his heart - in Latin, of course, so she has no clue what he said."

Maria clapped her hands to her mouth to suppress a squeal. "Why didn't onee-san tell  _ me _ that?"

"She was probably trying to spare your feelings," Lory reminded her gently.

Maria shrugged this off; she would not let herself be conquered by a small heartbreak. "If onee-san can burn the Shotaro-baka dolls, I can help with this."

"The what?"

"Shotaro-baka dolls. They're wonderfully powerful voodoo dolls that onee-san made of that Fuwa Sho person when she was really really mad at him. She decided that she didn't need them anymore, so she burned them." She took another bite of her crumpet; Jelly took a sip of tea. "This is yummy."

"Why did she not need them?" Lory inquired, brow furrowed. He'd heard the story at his mansion, so why…? Had she forgiven him?

Maria shrugged. "She just said that she didn't care anymore, and Moko-san said to burn them as a closure thingy."

Lory nodded again; Natsuko hissed her approval, then motioned for Sebastian to bring the nearest phone. He handed her the conch shell, which she in turn passed to Lory with her tail. He caught her meaning and glanced at the clock. "What time does Ren get off his current job, does anyone know?"

Maria, Jelly, and Natsuko shook their heads. Sebastian nodded and informed Lory, as Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore remembers trivial details about the subjects of Lory's experiments. "Thank you."

"Of course, sir."

"May I call Ren-sama?" Maria inquired, grinning. "He won't be as on his guard if I ask him to come up."

Lory chucked, dialed, and handed his granddaughter the phone. "You, my dear, are wonderfully devious."

She giggled while the phone rang. "I come by it honestly."

Jelly leaned against Lory's arm. "You two are such an adorable pair."

He smiled at her. "So I've heard. She is one of my favorite ladies, after all."

"And might I be included in that category?"

"No." (She pouted.) "You, my dearest Ten, are one of my favorite women." She smiled. Natsuko gave a snakey equivalent.

The phone rang twice before it was answered. "Hello?"

Maria quickly re-evaluated her plan of attack. "Oh, hello, Yashiro-san. May I speak to Ren-sama, please?"

Yashiro, in studio E-5, chuckled. "He'll be done here in a few minutes, Maria-chan. What do you need?"

"I wanted to talk to Ren-sama about yesterday. I heard a little bit from onee-san, but we were too busy burning the Shotaro-baka dolls to talk much, and then it was time for tea. So I… um… wanted to know if some of the stuff is true. Would you ask him to come up to Grandfather's office when he's done with work?"

"Sure thing, Maria-chan. I'm sure he'd be glad to talk to you."

"Alright, thank you!" She grinned and gave her spectators a thumbs-up. "Good-bye!" Much semi-maniacal laughter resulted, then many scones were eaten and much tea was drunk (and rest assured, drunk tea is an amusing sight to behold).

At the end of the scene, Ren walked over to Yashiro. "Any changes in the schedule?"

"We have a brief meeting with Maria-chan before your next job." He handed Ren a water bottle. "Good job, by the way."

"Thanks." He took the offered drink, a bit confused. "A meeting with Maria-chan?"

"She said that she'd heard something about yesterday from Kyoko-chan and wanted to know if it was true. Apparently they'd been too busy burning dolls of a certain 'Shotaro-baka' to talk in depth about it." He paused for a moment, observing his charge. "Ren."

The actor snapped out of wonderful fantasies about the said idiot being burned alive. "Yes?"

"Watch your face and go get changed so we have enough time for the meeting." Twisted, sick smiles were not part of the Tsuruga Ren brand.

Ren sighed and did as he was bid. A thought made itself known in his mind as he disrobed.  _ Maria-chan wants to talk to me about what happened with Kyoko yesterday.  _ He was aware that the young girl felt some puppy love towards him and perhaps more familial love towards Kyoko; would news of their date be distressing to her? How should he handle this? Moreover, how much could he tell her without overstepping any of Kyoko's boundaries?

"Ready?" Yashiro called, snapping the lock on his briefcase shut.

Ren nodded and fell into stride with his manager. "Ready."

**Thus endeth this chapter. ^^ I know that there's not a lot of fluff here, but rest assured that more shall come. Lots and lots more.**

**Find the Black Butler and Fullmetal Alchemist references for a little prize~! Please review!**


	4. How Can She Know?

**Hello, my darling readers (if you still exist and have not given up this story as a lost cause by now)! I have returned after a long absence due to school, minor wrist injury, and asthma. My apologies for the late update and minor cliffhanger. I'll try to leave you with a better one this time! *laughs***

**I still don't own Skip Beat, but I hope you enjoy this fic anyway~!**

Kyoko hurried down a hallway at TBM; she'd managed to arrive slightly early, but she wanted to make sure that she had enough time to do her stretches. The last time she'd done Bo without stretching beforehand, she'd pulled a hamstring. As that incident had been both unpleasant and inconvenient, she had since made her pre-Bo stretch a priority. Her co-workers would even join her on occasion, depending on how rigorous the show was to be that day.

"Oh, Kyoko-chan! Good pre-evening!"

"Ishibashi-onii-sans! Hello!" She stood and bowed to her co-workers. "I see that the president got to you, too."

Shinichi chuckled. "Yeah, he's practically enforcing the word, he likes it so much."

"He's such a lunatic, but we all love 'im anyway, right?" Yuusei grinned, stretching from side to side. "Ready to don the chicken suit of doom, Kyoko-chan?"

"Bo's not full of doom!" Kyoko protested, protecting her beloved chicken character as she continued her stretches. "I love playing Bo!"

"Glad to hear it," Hikaru piped up, copying her movements. "The show wouldn't be as good without you as Bo."

Instead of immediately launching into a violent denial of this compliment, Kyoko merely stilled for a moment, thoughts and memories mixing in her mind. After a few moments of awkward silence, she continued her stretches. "Thank you, Hikaru-onii-san. You guys make it really easy for Bo to go insane."

Shinichi and Yuusei gaped at each other. Kyoko had accepted a compliment - she'd deflected some of the credit, yes, but she'd accepted it nonetheless. This was a vast improvement from how she'd been just a few days ago. Hikaru grinned before remembering how his favorite chicken's day had gone the last time he'd seen her. "Are you feeling better, then?"

Her head snapped up, her cheeks coloring. "Yes! Much, much better, thank you!"

He observed her for a moment, dazed, and then beamed. "Glad to hear it!"

"Oh, yeah," Shinichi commented as they finished their stretches. "We've got something for you after we finish recording the show, so don't leave right away, okay?"

Kyoko, understandably confused and still going over memories in her mind, simply nodded before donning her costume. They would have a slight wait before the show began.

Meanwhile, Ren was slinking into Lory's office, still trying to figure out how best to reply to Maria's (and Lory's) upcoming questions. On one hand, if he were to tell the complete truth, then Kyoko would not get the wrong idea if she somehow heard what he had said. On the other hand, if he  _ didn't _ tell the complete truth, then Maria's young heart would be spared much pain and Lory would have less information to use as blackmail. Unfortunately for him, a small, frilly cannonball pelted into his arms before he had a chance to decide. He chuckled despite his worry and lifted her.

"Ren-sama, did you really take onee-san to see faeries and ride the carousel without me?" She attempted to pout, but her fiendish grin ruined the effect.

He tilted his head to one side, smiling. "Now where did you hear that?"

"Onee-san mentioned it while we were burning the dolls of that idiot." She copied his head movement. "I would've invited you to join us, but you weren't anywhere nearby. He burned really nicely, though."

"That's too bad. I'd have liked to join." Lory chuckled at these words and exchanged a knowing look with Jelly. The sound made Maria realize how effectively she was being distracted; she pointed an accusing finger at Ren.

"Don't change the subject, Ren-sama! I wanna hear about your date with onee-san!"

"My… date?" Had Kyoko actually called it that to Maria?

"It was kind of obvious by the way she was blushing and stuttering and trying not to turn into a pile of happy, melty cheese." The little girl nodded. "Plus, since she's calling you 'Ren' now, I figured that you two must have gone on an official date, onee-san being so proper and all."

"She did? In… in front of you?" Was that really alright?

Yashiro, who had trailed into the office after Ren, accepted a cup of tea from Sebastian, who realized exactly how tired the overworked manager was, as Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore notices minute details. Lory then signaled for Sebastian to join them in drinking tea and watching Ren be interrogated by Maria. The aide did so, his lobster claws clicking against his shell-chair.

"Well, yeah. Why not?" Maria paused; Ren suppressed a shudder as Natsuko wrapped her way around his legs and slithered upward. She then held a light bulb above Maria's head. Bizarrely, this worked, and Ren's reasoning became clear to the girl. "Ohhh. Right. Sorry, Ren-sama, but I've decided that I'm over you, 'cause onee-san needs you more than I do. Besides, I know what I wanna be when I grow up!"

"And that would be?" Lory inquired while Ren attempted to wrap his head around the idea of Kyoko needing him, instead of vice versa.

Maria thumped her fist against her chest proudly and declared, "I'm going to be  _ fire _ ! It's a strong, independent element that don't  _ need _ no man!"

To everyone's credit, they managed to keep straight faces for all of eight seconds before dissolving into their various forms of laughter (except for Sebastian, as he is Sebastian and therefore can remain expressionless even in the face of the most absurd statements). Ren had the presence of mind to set Maria on the nearest seahorse chair before his amusement made itself known. Yashiro chuckled while handing a pile of napkins to Jelly, whose tea had come out of her nose at that statement. Natsuko was a writhing pile of serpentine mirth upon the floor. Finally, Lory recovered enough to choke out some words.

"If that is what you wish, my darling girl," he managed between guffaws, "then I shall find the finest fire-trainers and costumes available for you."

She grinned, despite the slight ache in her heart.  _ How's my acting, Ren-sama? Did you believe me?  _ Lory held his arms open for a hug; she launched herself into them.  _ I might not fool Grandfather - he always knows about love - but I can fool you and onee-san. Besides, it's only fooling for as long as it's true. I'll be burning bright someday.  _ She switched over to Jelly's lap, a portion of her mind - the part not fighting off her heartbreak - wondering when Grandfather was going to get hitched to the young-looking woman.  _ I'll be alright. This way I won't lose anyone. _

Yashiro checked his watch before getting to his feet. "Sorry to laugh and leave, but we should get going if we want to make the next job."

Lory placed a hand on Ren's shoulder as the actor began to stand, halting his movements. "Yes, sir?"

Any earlier levity was gone from the president's face. When he spoke, his voice was low. "Ren… what exactly did you do to her, to make this much progress after nothing for so long?"

He chuckled. "I simply made her an offer she can't refuse, not now nor then nor ever."

"An offer she can't refuse? What are you, a mafia don?"

He smiled, bowed, and turned to leave, but did not elaborate further. Lory did not need to know any more than he did unless Kyoko was willing to share the news - from what he'd heard, even Maria had an incomplete picture. The day was sacred to him, and would only be shared with the rest of the world if she was ready for others to know. If and only if… the 'if' of them ever became 'when.'

Lory attempted to exchange a knowing look with Jelly, but was distracted. Jelly and Maria were chatting happily about carousels and the responsibilities of being fire - and were debating the compatibility of the two (faeries were not discussed, as faeries are obviously compatible with both). His gaze softened; he signaled for Natsuko to take a picture with her miniature, tongue-operated camera. He continued to observe the two until he realized that he (and the authoress) had forgotten to tease Ren mercilessly about his love life. Thus his moan of utter despair interrupted that happy scene, and Sebastian was required to bustle about and help his boss make various preparations for future teasing.

Meanwhile, Bo was in a bit of a pinch - literally. Kyoko couldn't feel Shinichi's pinch through the Bo suit, of course, but Bo certainly could and thus made a rather exaggerated fuss over it. This fuss, of course, resulted in much dramatic flapping, plonka-ing, and squawking. The audience roared their approval; this approval took the form of laughter when Bo parried the offending bobby pin with an oversized, inflatable pool toy shaped like a banana. Hikaru and Yuusei were left to squabble over an enormous paper boat. The guest, for his part, was left to imitate a fish as best he could. Had she been asked what game they were playing, Kyoko would not have been able to answer; Bo had started some chaos, leaving her consciousness to trail along after him.

The chicken in question had decided that doing an impression of a snake waving would be the best way to win this game (appropriately titled Object: Random). Bo appeared to transform in substance, now made of wiggling, curvy rubber instead of cloth and false feathers. The guest began laughing, which of course set everyone else off again. Bo bopped each Ishibashi on the head with the banana before striking a victorious pose. He then knelt before the guest and yielded his pool toy much in the way a knight might have yielded a sword to his king. The guest did his absolute best (and failed miserably) to keep a straight face while taking the pool toy from Bo. He then tapped each of Bo's shoulders with the toy, knighting him. Bo responded by letting out a rather loud cock-a-doodle-doo, calling that segment of the show to an end.

"Have you enjoyed your time on our show today?" Hikaru inquired of the guest, wiping sweat off of his brow.

The guest, panting slightly, nodded. "It's been a wild ride. To be honest, I hadn't expected a guest appearance to be so… strenuous. I fear that I might be out of shape!"

"Nah, you're fine. No one can keep up with our resident rooster," Shinichi laughed, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder to where Bo was entering with tea for everyone. Bo had the presence of mind to set the tea down before throwing his wings up into the air in a mockery of shyness.

Yuusei gave Bo a light slap on the tail feathers, eliciting an undignified squawk from the aforementioned bird. "No one like 'im."

The guest chuckled. "Then I suppose I shouldn't feel too bad, after all - and thank you for having me."

"Of course! It was our pleasure." Hikaru grinned before turning to the audience. "That's it for tonight, folks - thanks for watching! Tune in next week for a surprise guest star!"

"CUT!"

The four men and one rooster hurried offstage; Kyoko bowed a farewell to the guest before turning down the hallway to take the costume to its cleaning station. She did not question why she kept the suit on; Natsu knew, of course, but decided not to tell - after all, the knowledge behind the gut instinct would cause Kyoko to go over the deep end. Watching that happen in real time would be much more interesting than a minor breakdown in the Kyoko meeting room… and Natsu lived for pleasure.

Ren, as Natsu would have predicted if asked, was pacing back and forth in the hallway. Of course, 'pacing' was a bit understated; the man was a sap in love - and a very happy sap at that - and was thus bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet as he paced. Though he attempted to keep a straight face, his grin was very persistent; it insisted on creeping across his face every few seconds. He would then give his head an odd little jerk in an attempt to tame his expression, but to little avail. Ah, Ren… how sappy thou art.

He knew that he probably shouldn't even be here; he had one more job after this, some fifteen minutes away. He really shouldn't be risking being late for the second time that day. It was too much to risk someone overhearing him just to give a report - a good report, granted - to a man in a chicken suit whose name he didn't even know… but he had to tell  _ someone _ about his date with his princess, and the mysterious man in the chicken suit seemed the least likely to tease him. Besides, Bo was the one who'd originally helped him realize that he was in love with Kyoko, so it was only fair that he would be told, right?

_ Plonka. Plonka. Plonka. _

Ren turned, grinning once more, to face his romantic mentor. "Hello, again."

Kyoko blinked before shifting into the Ren's-Bo persona. "Yo. What's up? Got another problem for me to solve?"  _ I wonder what happened? He seemed fine yesterday…. _

Ren's grin widened as the pair sat down. "No, actually. I've got good news for you this time."

Bo threw his wings up into the air in an over-exaggerated gesture of avian surprise. "Good news? Coming from someone as clueless as yourself? Do I need to prepare my anti-zombie plan?"

"Your what?" Ren inquired, thrown for a loop - a metaphorical one, of course, as Bo was not nearly strong enough to pick Ren up, much less throw him.

"My anti-zombie plan. The apocalypse is obviously imminent if you have good news for me - after all, you usually only come to me for romantic advice." Bo snorted. "And if  _ you've _ got good news on  _ that _ front, well…! The only reasonable explanation I could come up with is the apocalypse." Inside the Kyoko meeting room (as Bo was driving the body right now), Kyoko bit her mental lip, wondering what could have happened.  _ Was yesterday just a test drive? Is he going to do something similar for his high school girl? _

Ren surprised Bo; he did not unleash a gentlemanlysmile upon realizing he was being teased. Instead, he chuckled and shook his head. "No apocalypses that I know of. I just wanted to thank you for all the advice you've given me."

"Ah, so you've finally confessed your love to your high school girl! Congratulations!"  _...I thought I'd gotten past being jealous. _

"Um…" He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly awkward. "About that…."

"You didn't confess, did you?"

"I did!"

"So the problem is...?"

"I may have done it in the wrong language."

_...What? _ "So you confessed in English or something?"

"Latin, actually."

"...You do realize that very few Japanese people speak Latin, right?"

"Yes."

"Is this the extent of the good news? You confessed in a language your girl doesn't speak?"  _ Really, Ren? Really? _

"No. I'm not  _ that _ hopeless." He crossed his arms; another grin crept across his face. "We spent the day together. I took her out and spoiled her like mad."

"Congratulations. You're a sugar daddy." Bo waved his wing in a circle, inviting Ren to continue speaking.

"She acknowledged it as a date," Ren announced, pride shining from his eyes. He ignored Bo's comment just as much as the authoress attempted to ignore the image of a certain homunculus crawling out of Ren's eyes.

"Yay, she said it was a date. Yippee. Happy day, hop about, squeal with glee." Bo made an impression of rolling his eyes. "And this is a big idea... why?"

"Because I also got her to finally call me by my given name, after a year of knowing her, and gaining permission to call her by her first name." Upon seeing Bo's body language-expression, he added, "She's a very proper, traditional young woman!"

A thought surfaced in her mind, but was ignored despite the best efforts of her angels. "Huh. You're finally calling her a 'woman.' Before now, you always said 'girl.' Coming to terms with reality, are we?"

Ren gave a defeated chuckled. "It's not like I really had a choice."

In the Kyoko meeting room, Setsu sneezed; Bo ignored her and asked, "Why? Did she shove her boobs in your face or something?"

This artless comment elicited a sputter from Ren and an internal protest from the boss Kyoko. "I just told you that she's a  _ proper, traditional _ young woman! She wouldn't do… something like that!"

Bo chuckled. "Mind your nose, lover boy. Wouldn't do to get a nosebleed now, would it?"

Ren pinched the bridge of his nose. Why had he thought that telling Bo about his date would be a good idea?

"Anyway, tell me about your date. What progress did you make, other than the name thing and her saying that yeah, it was a date?" Bo leaned forward and propped his head up on his wings. "You were all happy - I'll listen. Go on."

"Physical contact improved." Upon seeing Bo's smirk (and wondering how a chicken suit could smirk - honestly, sometimes the world acted like he was in a manga), he amended, "To a point. She no longer has a full-blown panic attack when I hug her."

In the Kyoko meeting room, Annabel giggled and commented that this gal sounded awfully familiar - but she was ignored. Bo nodded. "Yes, non-panicking touches are always good. Anything else?"

Another grin drifted across Ren's face. "She was so…  _ happy _ . I don't remember the last time I saw her smile so much… probably not since we were kids."

"As kids?" The chicken tilted his head.

He nodded, but did not elaborate, still immersed in the memories of the previous day. "She really deserves so much more happiness than she gets, so much more  _ love _ than she gets…. I'm just glad that, at least for one day, I could give her that much. It's… she trusted me enough to let me do even that much for her, to spoil her a little. I'm hopeless, I know… but she's worth it." He chuckled again and leaned his head back against the wall. "She's always been worth it."

Bo clapped. "An inspiring speech on love. Bravo. She's a lucky girl. Anything else?"

The actor tilted his head and looked at Bo out of the corner of his eyes. "You really are harsh, you know that? I come to you to thank you and tell you some good news, and you reward me with nothing but sarcasm."

"My apologies, my liege," Bo gasped, stood, and bowed deeply. "Bravo, O great one! Thou hast made improvement with thine fair lady. I can only hope to one day do as well as thee in the jousting-court of love."

"Your mockery is much appreciated."

"Anytime." Bo plopped down next to Ren once more. "Seriously, though, why me? I know I've given you some advice in the past, but… it's not like we meet outside of random help." He tilted his head to one side. "Can't you tell your family about her? Do your parents not approve of her or something?"

This time, Ren's laughter was harsh and forced. "No, Dad loves her… he's kind of adopted her as his second 'son', crazy as it sounds…."

"So the problem is what?"

"I...I just don't think they'd approve of me as I am now. I've changed a lot since I last saw them." His shoulders slumped.

"Well, why don't you just ask them? Your Dad seems like a good guy - he'd probably listen if you had a nice man-to-man chat about your woman."

"They live a long while away. I'd hate to have any of us travel so long for just a short chat."  _ Even if they'd be perfectly willing… I can't quite face them yet. I'm not ready. _

"Well, I'm not one to pry into family matters too much, but I think you'd be fine." Bo shrugged. Upon seeing Ren's look of incredulity, he continued, "Seriously, just call them. They'll be happy. Go. Shoo. Big bad actor such as yourself can handle a phone call." Bo flapped his wings in a shooing motion, hitting Ren in the face with feathers.

Pushing away the offending false fluff particles, Ren protested, "But-"

"You wanted to tell someone about your woman, right? There. You have something to talk about with them." Bo huffed, glancing at a nearby clock. Kyoko noted that Moko would arrive to get her soon. "Now scram. You've got another job or something, right? You don't want to be late. Get outta my sight."

Ren, too, glanced at the clock and realized that Bo's words were true. "I- alright. Thanks for all your advice, as always. It really helped me show her a good time yesterday."

Something pinged in the Kyoko meeting room, but Bo merely waved a lofty wing at Ren's face as the pair stood. "S'alright, muchacho. Auf wiedersehen, farewell, all that jazz." He watched as Ren gave a sigh smiled, and then turned to walk down the hall. After a few steps, he paused. "What?"

"I doubt you'll ever need it, but… if there's anything I can ever do for you, let me know. I'm more than willing to help."

"Yeah, yeah." Bo laughed. "Skedaddle, now. We've both got places to be."

Ren, in a moment of levity, saluted. Then he turned around and walked out of sight. Bo melted away as Kyoko watched him go.  _ You've done too much for me already. Good luck with your…. _

Annabel piped up in the meeting room, interrupting Kyoko's mental sap. "Ya  _ do _ realize that cowboy said that he showed his gal a good time  _ yesterday _ , right?"

Kyoko blinked. Footsteps sounded around the corner.

_...Huh? _

**That's it for this time, my lovelies! Thanks for taking the time to drop by and read this and review (hint, hint). I hope that this cliffhanger is better (read: more deliciously cruel) than the last one. A thank-you to my sempai for keeping me motivated and finding random words/facts for me! :D**

**Also, has anyone seen the animated movie** **_Strange Magic_ ** **? It has a lot of parallels to** **_SkipBeat_ ** **, which made me love it.**


	5. How Can She Realize?

**Please enjoy it despite the fact that I do not own Skip Beat!**

Hikaru rounded the corner, a look of concern on his face. "Kyoko-chan! What's wrong, did you get lost? You're still in your costume."

Kyoko snapped back to her senses and pulled off Bo's head. "Ah! Hikaru-onii-san… no, I'm fine. I just got lost in thought."  _...yesterday…. _ "I'll go send return it now."

Her honorary elder brother laughed, his hands resting in his pockets. "Don't worry about it. I'll walk with you."

"Oh, I couldn't impose-!" She made a face of mild distress as she fumbled with the costume's zipper.

"Here, let me get that." He chuckled as his hands went to the zipper on the back of the chicken. "It's got to be nearly impossible to unzip with feathers for fingers."

"Thank you! I'm so sorry for the trouble!" As Kyoko was still flustered,  _ yesterday _ still ringing through her mind, she did not think; she bowed. Hikaru gave an odd yelp when this motion nearly knocked him off balance, forcing him to struggle to right himself. Of course, as Kyoko is Kyoko and there is no known cure, she bowed many more times to apologize for this mishap. Thus, it was with much difficulty that the costume was finally unzipped. "I'm sorry…."

"No worries!" Hikaru proclaimed as the pair shoved the Bo costume into a cart for easier transportation. "By the way, you seem a bit out of it. Is everything okay?"

"Yup! I'm perfectly fine!" Her laugh was nervous, but Hikaru had the good grace to ignore it.

"Well, you seem to be in better spirits than two days ago, at least," he commented as they made their way to the costume drop-off point. "Did something good happen yesterday?"

Kyoko froze mid-step; the cart trundled to a halt.  _ Yesterday… he said he'd been with his high school girl yesterday… but…. _

"Kyoko-chan?"

"M-My best friend is back from her month abroad! We're going out to dinner tonight and then we're having a sleepover!" She beamed and resumed walking. "I missed her a lot, so I'm really happy that she's back!"

"If you two are going out to eat anyway, why don't you join the three of us? Big groups are more fun," he commented, as Hikaru is Hikaru and therefore an odd mixture of desperate and easy-going - and therefore on a near-Sebastian level in the authoress's mind (though not quite on his level, as Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore unparalleled). Seeing her hesitation, he gave her an easy smile. "Besides, you said that you'd give us a rain check on dinner, remember?"

"That is true…." She bit her lip and glanced to one side, then busied herself with heaving Bo's costume down the laundry chute.

"Our treat," he offered, helping her wrangle with the chicken's head.

"If Moko's fine with it, then sure." A smile tugged at her lips. "Thank you, Hikaru-onii-san."

"Anytime." He meant it, though she would never know how deeply.

Kanae strutted down the hallway at TBM. Do not misunderstand the intention of her walking style, dear reader; she was strutting in an arrogant sense; rather, she was doing so in order to lengthen her strides and get to her best friend more quickly - she was, after all, running a few minutes behind schedule. (For the record, her schedule was jogging backwards in front of her, waving a stopwatch like a mocking pendulum, but as she is not Kyoko she remained blissfully ignorant of this fact.) Her strides brought her to the designated meeting point - the room where Kyoko usually donned Bo's costume - only for her to find it utterly devoid of Kyoko. She sighed and rested her hand against her brow.  _ Where did she go this time? _

"Are you looking for Kyoko-chan?" a voice inquired from behind her.

Kanae snapped to attention, shifting back into her presentable mode. "Yes, I am. Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, she and Hikaru went off to send Bo off for cleaning. She should be back in a minute." Shinichi observed her for a moment before adding, "You're the one she calls 'Moko,' right?"

"Kotonami Kanae," she corrected with a forced smile. She would not suffer that nickname from anyone except Kyoko (as she was her best friend) and Maria (as she was the president's granddaughter). "And you must be part of Bridge Rock. I've heard a lot about you from Kyoko."

"Same!" Yuusei laughed. "She always gushes about your days out."

"I'm Shinichi, that's Yuusei, and our chief is Hikaru." Shinichi bowed; Kanae gave a bow in return.

"Thanks for taking care of her. She talks about her onii-sans frequently."

"So what do you gals have planned for tonight? Kyoko-chan seemed really out of it earlier, so we assumed that she had something good set up with you." Yuusei smiled.

She refrained from smiling at this. "We're planning on going out to eat somewhere, then she's going to sleep over."

"Then do you two want to go out as a group? We promised Kyoko-chan that we'd treat her, so we can treat you, too, if you like."

"Yeah, plus things are more fun in big groups," Shinichi agreed.

Kanae shifted her weight to one side, considering her options. On one hand, she didn't particularly care for socializing. On the other hand, a big group dinner might help Kyoko relax - and it never hurt to make more connections in this industry. Plus, if it was free…. "Sure, if it's fine with her."

"MOKO!"

Kanae visibly flinched as her best friend hurtled towards her, but did not dodge; the force of the impact sent her back a few steps. "Mo, it's only been a few hours. Calm down."

"But you were gone for a whole month! I missed you!" Questions, visible to Kanae, swirled behind the first LoveME girl's eyes.

The elder of the pair sighed, knowing that the explanation she'd receive later would be convoluted indeed. "These two have invited us for dinner as a group, their treat. You up for it?"

"Sure!" Kyoko beamed, releasing her best friend. "Hikaru-onii-san already suggested it to me, so I'm glad you want to go, too!"

The said male was a bit jealous of the greeting Kanae received, but he grinned. "Then it's settled! Where do you girls want to go?"

"We did offer you a pizza before. Anywhere's good, though. We're easy," Shinichi chimed in, nudging Yuusei. They'd noticed the slight stiffening of Hikaru and wished to tease him, but knew to wait until a decision had been made.

Kanae tilted her head to one side. "I'm not really one for pizza." She was an actress, after all; she had to watch her weight for the sake of her career.

"We could go to Darumaya, the restaurant where I board," Kyoko suggested. "Taisho's cooking is the best!"

"Sure, why not?"

"I'm agreeable."

"Wynaut!" Yuusei declared, striking the Pokémon's pose. "To Darumaya go we!"

Kyoko, catching this reference, was forcibly reminded of a certain fish Pokémon and inside joke. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt but did not comment.

Shinichi threw an arm over her shoulders, making her yelp. "Y'know, you never greet your onii-sans that enthusiastically. Why is that?"

Kyoko's brain, overloaded as it was, could not come up with a reasonable response to this. "U-Um! I- um…"

"Kidding, kidding!" the trickster declared, laughing. He stretched, pulling his arm off of her. "You take life too seriously. Have fun once in a while."

"He speaks the truth!" Yuusei declared, striking a dramatic pose. Kyoko laughed; Kanae began regretting her decision to join this crazy troupe. They separated briefly to gather their bags (Kanae noticed that Hikaru's bag was oddly bulky, but did not comment), then regrouped to head for Darumaya. The car ride was awkward at first, as the new acquaintances were uncertain about how to approach each other, but Kyoko brought up the subject of show business and dissipated the uncertainty; thus it was with little trepidation that the five of them invaded the Darumaya.

"Welcome - oh, Kyoko-chan! Welcome home." Okami-san smiled at the girl before noticing her company. "And you brought guests! Welcome to the Darumaya." She bowed to them before turning back to Kyoko. "You can use the private room, if you like, dear; we don't have any reservations for it tonight."

"Oh, th-thank you!" Kyoko bowed quickly. "I'll get everyone set up, then come help cook."

"You don't have to, dear -" Okami-san shook her head, ushering everyone inside. Her friends made similar statements.

"I know, but I want to!" Kyoko beamed, motioning for her friends to follow her. "I'm going to whip up my specialty for everyone!"

Okami-san smiled and shook her head. For all that her darling almost-daughter was changing, she was still the same sweet Kyoko inside. "As you like it, then." She sent the guests a conspiratorial, almost American wink as they passed her. "You're in for a treat. This girl's cooking will challenge my husband's in a few years."

Fortunately, Kyoko did not hear this compliment, and therefore could not contradict it. Instead, she lead and chattered to her friends about the history of the Darumaya, telling how taisho and okami-san had started it up after high school, right after they'd gotten married. The group listened with detached interest; Hikaru was more mesmerized by the joy in her expression than by any story she could tell. Kanae noted, with some foreboding, that Kyoko hadn't choked on any love-related words during the tale. It was only when Kyoko settled everyone in a private room (they  _ were _ celebrities, after all) and bowed herself out to go help in the kitchen that silence fell over the group.

Hikaru counted to forty-seven before standing and fetching his bag from a corner of the room. "I just remembered something I've got to do! I'll be right back."

"Yup. See ya, chief." Shinichi waved to Hikaru's back as the latter snuck away."Have fun with your secret plot."

"Secret plot?" Kanae inquired, raising an eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, might this secret plot entail?"

"Nothing much," Yuusei shrugged. "It's just a little surprise for Kyoko-chan."

_ Danger, danger. _ "A surprise…?"

"Yeah," he replied, shrugging off his hoodie to reveal a Bo-patterned t-shirt. "Hey, you were in _Kizutsuita_ _Bushi_ , right?"

She nodded, briefly distracted. "Yes, I was Tachibana Fumiko."

"I knew it!" He stuck his hand across the table to shake hers. "I love that show! Your appearances always spice things up." When she took his hand, he pumped hers several times before releasing it.

"Really, though, we loved it," Shinichi chimed in. "Especially your most recent scene, in the cellar - that was stellar."

Kanae did not dignify the latter statement with a response, instead choosing to smile as best she could. Yuusei leaned over to his friend. "Hey, Shin, stand up for a sec."

"Why?" He crouched, not ready to fully stand.

"That was bad, so you lose your cushion."

He plopped back down onto his cushion, expression defiant. "What? No way! That was a brilliant rhyme, and you know it!"

"No, you've just got low standards," Yuusei assured him in a mock-soothing voice.

Kanae zoned out; the bickering continued in the background of her mind.  _ A surprise for Kyoko…? His bag did seem awfully bulky… but they said that it was nothing too big - a "little" thing… maybe it's some sort of present?  _ She took a sip of her drink (okami-san had brought some glasses of water in for them while they were talking) as she thought.  _ But why would he need to sneak away? Why not just give it to her after we eat? _ A crease appeared in her brow.  _ Would he do anything shady? No, he couldn't have planned on coming here - they were originally planning to get pizza. Hmm…. _

"Is he  _ pun _ ishing you too much with his jokes, Kotonami-san?" Yuusei asked, snapping her out of her mental analyzation.

"No, not at all." She smiled. "Hikaru-san is taking quite a while to set up this surprise for Kyoko. It's almost suspicious, wouldn't you think?"

The boys exchanged a look. "Not really," they chorused.

She leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table, voice challenging. "Oh, really?"

The Ishibashis grinned, exchanging a look. This was going to be  _ fun. _

Kyoko bustled around the kitchen, the smile with which the taisho graced her going unnoticed as she ducked under his arm to locate a spice. He watched her out of the corner of his eye; pride swelled in his chest, putting some very odd images into the authoress's brain (honestly, the reader must be getting sick of such references by now). His fingers never wavered from their chopping and slicing; hers were nimble in applying spices to the dish she was preparing. It was almost like a dance, he mused, the way he and his almost-daughter shared his kitchen.

"Taisho, where's the other vegetable knife?"

"Blue drawer, green box." He'd color-coded his kitchen years ago - back when he and his wife had first started this restaurant. It was not so much the rainbow effect as the ultimate organization that soothed him and made him able to cook his best.

"Thank you!" she sang, skipping over to the drawer to fetch the knife.

He nodded approvingly. "It's good to see you in good spirits again."

She giggled. "Well, Moko is home! Of course I'm happy!"

He nodded without fully believing her, but refrained from saying anything else for a few moments. The sounds of sizzling meat and boiling noodles, combined with the ambient noise of the restaurant, filled the kitchen. The steady rhythm of his knife was the heartbeat of the kitchen, bringing it to life around them. Their lines of sight crossed only twice; but each time, it was as if his gaze encouraged her to tell more of what needed to be said, yearned to be asked. Steam from the noodle pots curved around them as she gave a shy smile and began to gather her thoughts.

"Taisho?" Her voice was soft, barely audible over the heartbeat of the kitchen, which gave two definitive chops to show that he was listening. "I realize that this is sudden and awkward, but...um… how did you know?"

Three slightly slower chops of his knife came in reply to this question, making her realize that she needed to elaborate.

"I-I mean… um… how did you know… when you two were in high school… that okami-san was the one you l-loved? How could you tell if she l-loved you back?" The nervousness in her voice made it grow progressively softer as she spoke, but the pace his knife matched her words.

"We wanted to take care of each other, and did." This time, her knife was the one that spoke, giving a wordless plea for an explanation, so he continued. "It's mutual support. If she needs me, I care for her; if I need her, I know she'll be there."

"Oh, come now, dear, there's a bit more to it than that," came a voice from the doorway of the kitchen. Okami-san smiled at the pair of them, carrying a new order to her husband. "Three of today's special for table six, dear, and one surprise for Arata-kun. He said that he's eager for something new."

Kyoko smiled; Arata-kun was a regular customer, perhaps a few years older than Ren, but his family had been coming to the restaurant since its opening - hence the suffix. The pattern of her knife's falls, however, betrayed her curiosity - what 'more' could okami-san have meant? She bit her lip and took out her frustrations on the carrot that lay upon her cutting board; it was diced within moments.

Taisho placed a kiss on his wife's cheek, eliciting a smile from her, and then indicated that she ought to continue what she had begun to say before Kyoko cut straight through the countertop. She nodded and kissed him in return before speaking. "Kyoko-chan, let me ask you one thing: What do you think happiness is?"

She hesitated before shaking her head. The chopping of her knife slowed almost to a halt. "I've been trying to figure that out for over a year."

The matronly woman shook her head, a soft smile gracing her features. "I think you already know, dear. You have four wonderful friends in the other room, a darling little sister, a job you love, and a way to let your heart heal. You'll figure it out in time, when you let yourself." She patted Kyoko's cheek before walking to the doorway, where she paused. "That reminds me - I've sent the camera's film in to be developed, so you'll have that picture of you and your date sometime soon. I've ordered extras of that one so you can give one to him if you like." With a wave, she slipped back through the curtains into the restaurant, leaving Kyoko's knife pace to rise to alarming speeds as her face nearly matched her chosen vegetable (a tomato) and as her mind swirled with her impending realizations.

"Make sure that you cut up extra."

"Taisho?" Her knife fell once, questioning.

"I want Arata-kun to taste my daughter's excellent cooking today." The heartbeat of the kitchen was slow and deliberate, as if he were weighing his knife-strokes carefully.

"D-Daughter?" Her knife faltered.

He nodded; their eyes met for a moment, the older pair smiling. She ducked her head, embarrassed, and reached for another vegetable. Kuu, it seemed, now had some competition in the 'Father' department.

Hikaru dashed along the hallway of Darumaya, wiping the oil on his hands on his pants as he ran. He'd had a bit of trouble getting the tires on the bike - honestly, it was as if some spirit creature had been protecting the two-wheeled mode of transportation - and had taken longer than he'd planned. It was with a very small margin that he slid back into the room and took his seat next to the one that would be Kyoko's before the curtain to the kitchen slid open. Kanae shot him a suspicious glance as he downed half of his water and wiped sweat off of his brow.

"Sorry about the wait!" Kyoko called as she hip-bumped the door of the private room, causing it to swing open. In her hands she bore an enormous bowl filled to the brim with noodles and vegetables. "The vegetables took a little longer than I'd expected to cook. But now we can dig in!"

"It's fine," Kanae assured her, moving plates out of the way.

"I'm sure it'll be worth the wait!" Yuusei beamed, helping her set the bowl on the table.

"Besides," Shinichi drawled, stretching, "it's given us more time to get to know the lovely Kotonami-san."

"Thank you," Kyoko laughed, settling into the space next to Hikaru, at whom she looked with concern. "Are you alright, Hikaru-onii-san? Your face is rather red."

"Nah, I'm fine," he replied easily. "Shin told a joke, and I guess I laughed too hard."

As Kyoko is Kyoko and therefore easily fooled, she accepted this explanation without further questions, and then began serving the food. "Hold up your plates, everyone!"

They did as they were bid; a chorus of thanks filled the air. Hers was the last to be filled - she was the host, after all.

"Itadakimasu!"

"So, Kyoko-chan," Shinichi mumbled through his noodles, "what d'you call this dish?"

"Actually, it doesn't really have a name," she laughed. "It's a kind of stir-fry, I guess. Taisho was busy and I wanted to cook for everyone, so I figured I'd just whip some of this up - whatever it is! I never really bothered giving it a name."

"Well, it's fabulous either way! You could make a living off of this stuff!" he exclaimed, a noodle falling out of his mouth and back onto his plate as he spoke. Kanae winced, but Kyoko laughed.

"Thank you! I guess things don't need names to…" she paused, her own words echoing in her mind, "...to be good." She fell into a metaphorical pit of silence, leaving the conversation to the other four. While the Ishibashis tried to name all of the ingredients, Kanae glanced over at her friend.

The coming explanation would  _ definitely _ be convoluted.

"...and carrots! Did we get 'em all, Kyoko-chan?" Yuusei inquired, shoving a chunk of carrot into his mouth.

"Wah!" she yelped, pulled out of her mental wanderings. "I-I'm sorry, I got lost in thought. You were saying, onii-san?" In the Kyoko meeting room, a petulant voice commented that the man in front of her was most definitely  _ not _ onii-san.

"Forget it, it's not important. We were just talking about how much we enjoy your food."

"Oh, th-thank you." Her mouth smiled, but her eyes cast a helpless look at Kanae, whose eyes remained resolutely trained on her plate of noodles and vegetables.

"In fact," Shinichi grinned, picking up a piece of egg in his chopsticks, "it's  _ egg _ cellent!"

Kanae groaned, though Yuusei and Kyoko laughed. Hikaru watched the latter human, something bittersweet roiling within him - though he knew not why. Her eyes did not dance as usual, and she laughed perhaps a bit too hard at that pathetic excuse for a joke. His own eyes narrowed; something had been off about the usually cheerful girl for quite some time. Until this morning, he'd discounted it as a result of her month of bad luck.

"I mean," Shinichi continued, ducking Yuusei's punch, "even an Exeggutor couldn't have  _ eggsecuted _ it better!"

_ Exeggutor… Pokemon…  _ Kyoko smiled, despite the whirling of her brain. She was a hostess, after all, and would play her part as best she could.  _ Pokemon… Magikarp?  _ Her lips closed perhaps harder than necessary over her chopsticks, nearly flipping one of them out of her hands.

"Kyoko-chan," Hikaru whispered, leaning over to her as she took a sip of water, "is something wrong? You're acting strangely. Have people at your high school been mean to you again?"

At the words  _ high school _ , everything finally connected in Kyoko's head with a satisfying clunk; she spit water all over the table. The authoress now suggests that the reader take a peek into the Kyoko meeting room in order to make the best sense of the situation, and begs that the reader keep in mind that all of the following occurs inside of the girl's head.

The Kyoko meeting room, for those who may not know, was actually a very cozy place. There were several large, squashy couches in muted shades of purple, red, and burgundy, squished around a large window-wall that showed whatever the person currently driving the body saw. The opposite wall was similar, but showed La-La land in reality's stead. The Kuon boy, the character she had acted for Kuu, watched through this latter window as the "danger" and "stay out" police tape around a certain dark corner began to fray; it would not be long until they broke away entirely. The other characters huddled around the boss Kyoko, for the purpose of helping her sort through her sudden realization… or, at least, commenting on it, as none of her characters were designed to be very helpful people.

Kyoko, for her part, was pacing back and forth in front of the couches, frantically trying to make sense of all the thoughts falling into place in her head. Her arms were flailing as she paced, giving off the impression that the girl was an odd mixture of a spastic dinosaur and an over-caffeinated owl. Her mouth gaped like a Magikarp's, trying and failing to shape even ten of the thousands of words flowing through her subconscious; this resulted in a high-pitched whistle being set off in the Kyoko meeting room. Mio stuck her fingers in her ears; the huddled grudge Kyokos followed suit while the angels attempted to calm their mistress.

Natsu, sick of the noise, stood up from her lounging seat on the couch and slapped Kyoko across the face. "Calm down. It's not like it's anything that's actually  _ new _ ."

"Play nice now, Nacchan," Annabel drawled as the bully resumed her seat, the whistle dying out in the background. "Ya know how much th'boss has been denyin' it. Now she's been presented with undeniable evidence 'n' has t'come t'terms with it."

"I merely thought it beneficial to slap some sense back into her," Natsu replied, voice cool, as she examined her nails.

"Yeah, yeah, whatevs. Anyway, boss-Kyo," she continued, addressing the girl who was now kneeling on the floor, "what'cha thinkin' now that ya've got yer head on straight?"

The girl who had created those staring at her blinked, looking very similar to a cat that had somehow become stuck in a closed umbrella without having the slightest clue of how it had gotten there in the first place - that is to say, supremely confused. "I-It just seems so implausible."

"Well, that's a step up from 'impossible,'" Mio sighed, removing her fingers from her ears and glaring at the source of the noise. "Now, give me one good reason as to  _ why _ it's 'implausible.' And 'because he's Tsuruga Ren' does not count."

"W-Well…." Kyoko bit her lip, trying to organize her thoughts - which were, of course, running around La-La land in the form of terrified tie-dye sheep.

"Time's up." Mio smirked. "You failed to come up with one good reason. Take it up with your precious  _ Moko-san _ later."

"Just let me take over so I can shag nii-san," Setsu suggested from her upside-down position on the couch. Her legs kicked the air as she stared at Kyoko, hair pooling on the floor. "I'm sure he'd enjoy it if nii-san could stay in control long enough to have a little  _ fun _ ."

Kyoko flushed rather violently at these words; the demon-angel gave Setsu a light stomach chop. "We both know that that could have potentially unsavory effects."

"But it's nii-"

"No."

"It  _ could _ be fun to watch him war with propriety and his own desires," Natsu commented. "He'd be fun to  _ break. _ "

"This isn't helping," Mio noted, but made no further movements to amend the situation.

"I-It's just… I'm so stupid!" Kyoko moaned, snapping out of her flushed daze. "I-I mean, yeah, I'm not the type to really think that I could maybe be his high school girl, but all the facts are pointing to me being her - I mean, he said that he'd showed her a good time  _ yesterday _ , and I was with him  _ all day _ , there wasn't time for him to be with anyone else unless it was in the wee hours of the morning. But he was too well-rested for that to be true! Yeah, he can run on little sleep, but he gets ever-so-slightly more grumpy when he does - except for today, which was weird, but not if he was really happy about yesterday, but…  _ I don't know! _ "

The grudge Kyoko swooped in and began whispering to their mistress, attempting to convince her to come back to their side, the side that scorned such foolish things as love and affection. After all, look where it had gotten her before… a broken heart and empty insides. And wouldn't it be worse this time, if she were to love and be left again, like the very first time - wouldn't it be so much worse now that she had tasted, could taste, the delicious life she could live if she were to accept him? Wouldn't another betrayal, another abandonment… wouldn't that break her for good?

Before a decision could be reached, however, the boss Kyoko was drawn back outside the window-wall, into the real world, by Hikaru's voice.

"Are you okay, Kyoko-chan?" He looked at her with concern, eyebrows knitted together, afraid that he had stepped on a landmine.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine! Sorry about that." She laughed, but it was a bit too high-pitched to be plausible. As she mopped up the mess she'd made, she assured him, "No, no one at my high school's been mean to me. I've just had a lot on my mind is all."

"Oh? Like what?"

She took a sip of water, which resulted in another spit-take when Kanae mentioned, between bites, "She went on a date with Tsuruga yesterday."

"MOKO!" Kyoko wailed in distress, hurrying to mop up the water she had spewed over the table yet again. Her mind whirred, trying to align everything she had recently realized with Moko's blunt analysis. Yes, she'd called it a date to  _ him _ , but that could be interpreted as a shortened form of "day together" or as just letting Yashiro-san have his fantasies! Sure, she'd let it be called a date by okami-san, but that was only because she wasn't sure how else to call it! For Moko to call it thusly in front of her onii-sans…!

Hikaru, meanwhile, felt as though his heart had been punctured by thousands of splinters of glass - each of Kanae's artless words had cast hundreds into his pumping organ, only to have them hammered into it by Kyoko's rather violent reaction and twisted by the blush now creeping up her face. His almost-love's hands waved about, as if attempting to gather a proper explanation from mid-air; in Hikaru's mind (rather, his heart), the sound of shattering glass spelled out his misery.  _ Has it been hopeless all along? _

"H-He was just cheering me up as…" - here she paused, attempting to decide how to categorize their current relationship, before falling back on her old ways - "a-as a kohai! A KOHAI! A kohai, I tell you!" (Her angels were gently smashing their heads against a wall in the Kyoko meeting room, frustrated by this supposed relapse and attempt to convince even herself of this lie.) "It's a thing, I promise!"

The grudge Kyokos, trying to be helpful to their mistress and ecstatic that she appeared to have returned to their side, summoned up glowing balls of negative energy to use as pom-poms. They then began a oh-so-pleasant little cheer of: "K-O-H-A-I! K-O-H-A-I! Just a kohai, just a kohai! It's a thing, I pro-mise you! K-O-H-A-I!"

Of course, only Kyoko could hear or see them, but the message seemed to get to Hikaru either way. He gave a relieved, hopeful little sigh. "O-Oh, okay."

Kanae shot Kyoko a look indicating that, despite the chilling sensation that the causes of immobilization were near, she was not fooled; she opened her mouth to say so.

At which point Kyoko looked at Kanae like an upset, drenched, love-deprived owl might - bug-eyed and frowny-beaked. Kanae paused a moment to wonder why her best friend seemed to have a beak, but that moment proved to be her undoing - Kyoko latched onto her arm and refused to let go, forcing the elder girl to acquiesce and maintain her silence for the time being. The Ishibashis decided not to question this occurrence either - after all, they were very used to seeing Kyoko with a beak, albeit a different sort thereof. Thus, the five descended into a companionable silence and continued with their meal, the rest of which passed in something of a daze for Kyoko. It was because of said daze that the girl did not notice when her best friend took her by the elbow to lead her up to her room to gather the things she would need for a sleepover, nor when her honorary onii-sans waved away okami-san's complaints of them being Kyoko's guests before paying for the meal. It was because of this daze (and not the laziness of the authoress, of  _ course _ not) that she did not, at first, understand why her onii-sans insisted upon putting her bike into the trunk of the car.

"You really don't need to - I won't be able to use it anyway! The tires are busted!" Her hands waved frantically about in midair, as if seeking to convince her onii-sans via air waves.

Kanae raised an eyebrow, observing the tires before flickering her eyes to a proud-looking Hikaru. "They look fine to me. Do you have your stuff? Then let's go."

"Huh? But- wait, what?" She lowered her flailing hands enough to see over them, then stopped flailing entirely as she gazed with confusion at her bicycle. Creases appeared in her brow as she stepped forward to inspect the tires, then looked up at her friends in confusion. "But the tire gnomes and I had a falling-out years ago."

Hikaru barked out a laugh while Kanae sighed. Though Yuusei grinned, it was the final human who explained that not gnomes, but friendly elves had taken it upon themselves to aid her in her time of need. After Kanae had dragged Kyoko back from La-La Land, demanded (and received) an explanation as to what she could have possibly done to offend  _ tire gnomes  _ of all things, the reality of her fixed bicycle was made clear to her, resulting in a near-tidal wave of stuttered thank yous and bows. The Ishibashis waved it off, saying it was just a bit of doting on their parts, but she insisted on repaying them somehow.

"If you're that dead-set on making it up to us," Yuusei grinned, "give each of us a hug."

"But how would that-"

"No buts! Just hugs." Having said this, he gave her a one-armed hug, using his free hand to mess up her hair. She protested this latter action but haltingly returned the hug. Shinichi's hug consisted of him grabbing her around the waist and hanging her upside-down for a few seconds before setting her back on her feet. While she was laughing, the pair of trouble-makers pushed her into Hikaru's far-gentler hug. His cheeks heated - a fact that did not go unnoticed by anyone but Kyoko - and the embrace was brief but awkward, with him trying to rub circles on her back but failing to do so because of his shaking hands. She smiled at and thanked the three of them once more when he released her. The drive to Kanae's apartment was brief and filled with laughter; they said their goodbyes and took Kyoko's things out of the trunk; Hikaru was left to be teased mercilessly by the other two as the girls locked up Kyoko's bike and made their way up the steps.

Kanae unlocked her door, dragged Kyoko inside, locked the door behind them, and then - after they both stopped to remove their shoes - marched her over to her floor cushions, pushed her down onto one of them, and said, "Talk."

**There we go! :D That's the end of this chapter. I wanted to include fluff, but I didn't have enough time or space.… -_- Sorry. So very, very sorry. The next chapter will include a severe amount of fluff, though, so please stay tuned!**

**I will try my hardest to update sooner next time. Until then, bear with me!**


	6. How Can She Be Convinced?

**By the way, I have a headcanon that Kyoko is a RWBY fan.**

**I don't own Skip Beat, but please enjoy this anyway! ^^**

"T-talk? About what?" Kyoko gave her friend a nervous smile, but did not meet the elder girl's eyes.

"About your poorly-covered up spit take, that's what." Kanae cracked her neck on both sides, never taking her eyes off of the girl before her.

"W-Well, y-you said I'd gone on a d-date with Ren! Of course I'd be surprised!"  _ Oh no... oh no, oh no, oh most holy fluffernutters I can't lie to Moko…. _

"You told Maria-chan essentially the same thing earlier. Besides, we both know I'm talking about the first one." Her eyes narrowed. "Why did you respond to strongly to the words  _ high school _ ? Do I need to knock someone down a few pegs?"

"You'd do that for  _ me _ ?" Her phone rang, but Kyoko did not notice it in her ecstasy, instead launching herself at Kanae.

"If I wouldn't, I'd be a lousy best frie- get off of me!"

"But Moko…!" Kyoko pouted, but refrained from testing her puppy eyes, even when her best friend slipped out of her hug. Her phone continued to ring.

"If it's not that, then what is it? Does it have some connection with this yesterday which I have yet to hear actual details about?"

"Magikarp," Kyoko muttered, as her phone switched to voicemail without her noticing.

"What?" Kanae blinked; her memory reminded her of her siblings' and cousins' most recent obsession. "What does a Pokemon have to do with anything?"

"It doesn't, not really… it's a long story." Kyoko sighed and shook her head. "No, no one's been picking on me at school. Th-the words just made something make sense in my head. Nothing to worry about!"

"And would that something be the fact that Tsuruga Ren is a sap in love with you?"

This question, of course, caused Kyoko to go into another stuttering Magikarp spree; however, this occurrence was a more than sufficient reply for Kanae's query to be confirmed, and thus made Kyoko's eventual, meek nod utterly unnecessary.

"Well, good for you. Just don't be all over each other in front of me, okay?" She rolled her eyes and made to stand up (presumably to go start unpacking her bags), but was stopped by Kyoko's sudden death grip on her arm. As her best friend was one more making her drenched-and-love-deprived owl expression, Kanae sat back down. "What?"

"Y-You've got it wrong, Moko! We're not together-together!"

"Then what the hell happened to make you realize something you've been unconsciously ignoring for over half a year?" Understandably, the elder of the two girls was growing frustrated with her best friend's reticence. Oughtn't she have been the  _ first _ person Kyoko told about this, rather than hearing bits and pieces from those who somehow knew about the day?

"W-Well… it goes back a while…." Kyoko mumbled, accepting the fact that she would need to explain herself.

"Wait." Kanae held up one hand. "First just give me the gist of it. What did  _ high school _ make you realize, and why?"

"That's an even longer story, Moko." The younger of the two released Kanae's hand pulled her own knees up to her chin. "Plus, I don't think it's my secret to tell."

"Does it concern you?"

"That's what I think, at least."

"Then spill." Her expression left little room for Kyoko to argue; but as Kyoko is Kyoko and therefore unwilling to betray even a slight confidence, she did so.

"But Moko, it's supposed to be a secret! He'd get all sparkly - or worse - if he found out that I'd told someone!"

"Sparkly?" Kanae ignored the sound of Kyoko's phone going off a second time; Kyoko again failed to notice. "As in 'sparkly gentlemanly smile'?"

Kyoko squeaked, but nodded and continued speaking, growing more distressed with every word. "B-But he didn't know it was me!"

"Oh, really?" Kyoko's phone continued to ring.

"I-I was Bo at the time. H-He'd sought Bo out before for advice, since Bo explained something to him once." She gulped. "So I-I don't think I was supposed to hear what I did. I… I don't think that he would've wanted me to hear it."

"And that would be…?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"He told me before… back around  _ Dark Moon _ … that he was in l-l-love with a high school girl," she whispered. Her phone rang, ignored once more. "A-And he came to see Bo earlier, and mentioned that he'd taken his high school girl out on a date  _ yesterday. _ "

"Which is when you two went out and rode the carousel and played with your faeries, right?"

She nodded, eyes swirling with the same confusion they'd held all through dinner.

"And I'm guessing you didn't reveal yourself to him," Kanae sighed.  _ No, that would have been too logical on her part. _

"Of course not! He'd have been furious with me! He'd hate me for it!" A few tears began working their way out of Kyoko's tear ducts as her phone switched over to voicemail for the second time.

"I  _ really _ doubt that that's even possible." Kanae cracked her neck from side to side again; oh, she was looking forward to a hot bath after that plane ride. "Anyway, you've now found out that the guy you're mad about is even more mad about you. Congrats. What neurosis is stopping you from being happy about it?" She refrained from adding  _ this time _ to the end of her question; after all, even though Kanae was frustrated with Kyoko, she is still Kanae and therefore cares deeply about her best friend.

It was some time before Kyoko spoke (during which her phone began ringing once more), and when she did it was with the air of someone baring a particularly nasty papercut to someone with hand sanitizer. "It's just… he treated me like a princess, Moko. A-And when I asked him why, he said he wouldn't have treated me that way if he didn't think I deserved it…. I don't understand, Moko! There's nothing I've done or could do to make myself worthy of being treated that well… of being treated like a princess!" Her distress was evident in her downcast eyes; her phone rang insistently, but was either not noticed or ignored.

_ Oh, come  _ on.  _ You've  _ got _ to stop that depressing nonsense. _ "Why not?"

"B-Because I'm not-!" She looked up, desperate, but Moko held up a finger to pause her speaking. Kyoko's phone rang in the silence before switching to voicemail for a third time; the caller did not leave a message, but instead seemed to hang up only to call back immediately. The phone was, of course, ignored again.

"Anything that your mother or that singing imbecile ever told you - even indirectly -  _ does not count _ , got it?"

"But…." She bit her lip, trying to sort through her brain. "I'm terrible, Moko."

"That's not a valid reason, as I neither hear nor know any evidence to back it up." Had Kyoko been functioning, she might have noticed that her best friend gave her an indirect compliment; however, as she was currently in the land of swirly-twirly-all-is-doom, she did not. Instead, she hid her face in her knees, resulting in her voice being slightly muffled.

"I… I get jealous so easily, Moko. I don't think my acting could hide it, even if I tried with all of my heart. I couldn't be happy if he found someone else. I couldn't put my feelings aside long enough to count on my pride as an actress…." The tears began their slow journey down her face to her knees. Her phone would not stop ringing. "I was relieved,  _ happy _ even, when I think about how he said he couldn't have anything precious anywhere, because that meant that I wouldn't have to see him with someone else, with the type of woman he deserves - the type of woman who deserves  _ him. _ I'm hopeless, Moko - I'm -"

"-acting like any other person who's in love; he gets the same way when you're around other guys - which I've seen and you therefore cannot deny. Get over it. Do you  _ seriously _ think you're trash?"

Kyoko nodded without hesitation, forcing Kanae's metaphorical hand.

The elder of the pair shifted to seiza sitting position and grabbed Kyoko's chin in her hand, forcing the sobbing girl to look at her. "Kyoko, answer me this: Why are we best friends?"

She sniffled. "Because I grabbed ahold of you and wouldn't let go."

Kanae willed herself to be patient. "That's how we became best friends. Why are we  _ still _ best friends?"

"Because I always grab ahold of you and don't let go, and because you're a wonderful person."

_ Do not snap at her. Do not snap at her.  _ "Kyoko-"

"It's true! Moko is an amazing person!"

" _ Kyoko _ -"

"Moko always puts up with me, even when I'm utterly hopeless! Your heart is big enough to put up with stupid, jealous, plain udon like me and-"

"KYOKO!"

She flinched, as if expecting a physical blow to follow. "Y-Yes, Moko?"

"Sorry. I shouldn't have shouted. But you need to shut up and listen for a moment, okay? I'm only going to say this once."

Kyoko nodded, showing that she understood. Her phone continued to ring; Kanae tossed a cushion at it to muffle the noise.

"You are my best friend and rival. Correct?"

"Yes, but-" Kanae put a finger on Kyoko's lips to silence her.

"I love you as my best friend and if anyone hurts you, I will be out for blood. I do not do this for trash, nor do I make trash my best friend and rival. _I do not put up with trash._ _You are not trash._ You have extreme worth as a human being and as an actor, and if I ever hear you talking bad about yourself again I will do something drastic. Capice?"

Kyoko looked as if someone had dropped a carton of frozen milk on her head; her tears stopped, as if they were also able of feeling shock and had also frozen from it. "You… love… me…?"

Kanae, who had of course been highly colored through all of this, hissed, "I said I wasn't going to repeat myself!"

This utterly unprecedented admission of affection of any sort from her highly reticent best friend resulted, of course, in Kyoko being in a state of shock for several long minutes. Kanae used this time to first check the caller I.D. on Kyoko's incessantly ringing phone (and was not remotely surprised at what she found) and then locate a clean pair of pajamas. She then sat back down in front of Kyoko and snapped her fingers in front of the dazed golden eyes.

Kyoko's reaction was immediate and amusing to anyone who happened to not be Kanae at the moment: she began sobbing in earnest and launched herself at her best friend, knocking the pair of them backwards. The one who had the misfortune of being Kanae at the moment patted her friend on her head and wondered how in the name of the cupcake gods (well, not really, but her actual wondering in the name of was far too cliche to record here) she managed to get herself into these situations. Once Kyoko's violent outflow of tears had abated some, the elder of the pair pushed them into a sitting position and announced, "I am going to go take a nice, long, hot bath."

Kyoko nodded, wiping her eyes and giving her closest confidant a glowing smile. Her phone continued to ring. "Okay!"

"I expect," said the said confidant, standing, "a full, coherent explanation of whatever happened yesterday when I emerge, and then -  _ only then  _ \- we will do whatever typical sleepover stuff you want to do. Deal?"

"Deal." As Kanae picked up her pajamas and began walking to her bathroom, Kyoko called after her, "I love you too, Moko!"

"Yeah, yeah." She waved her hand over her shoulder, then paused at the bathroom door. "And answer your phone before that sappy dork of yours freaks out and drives over here to check on you!"

Ren was frantic - actually, that's not completely true.  _ Kuon _ was frantic, and with good reason. It was getting late and he knew that Kyoko had no work that evening, but she was not answering her phone. Thus, the only sensible thing to do - or so it seemed to his overstressed mind - was to keep calling her in hopes of her picking up. He was pacing around and around his living room, wearing an imaginary path in the carpet.

_ Why isn't she picking up? We always talk about this time of night, so I know that she got home safely. Did something happen to her?  _ He turned sharply, misjudged his steps, and tripped over his end table. Fortunately, he landed on his couch, but the impact knocked a different line of thought into his brain than the one he'd been following for the past twenty minutes or so, and a much nastier one at that.  _ What if she is ignoring my calls because she's realized that she's too good for me? _

_ No,  _ he argued,  _ no, she's too polite to do that. She'd at least answer long enough to ask me not to call her. Besides, she seemed pretty happy this morning…. _

_ She's an excellent actress, _ commented the nasty little voice in his head, whom shall henceforth be referred to as Nernouk.  _ She could easily pretend to enjoy your presence. _

_ No, she's too honest. _

_ Oh, really?  _ Nernouk giggled fiendishly.  _ What if she just didn't want to face you? What if she's realized who  _ you _ are… and what you've done? What then? _

_ No, no, please no… please just have fallen asleep early or something… please just be taking a bath or reading or daydreaming or something… please be okay… please don't… don't hate me…. _

_ Gee, I wonder why she isn't picking up? _ Nernouk commented as the call once again went to voicemail.  _ Maybe it has something to do with why she hadn't told her precious best friend about your date yet? _

_ Shut up.  _ Kuon dialed again, well aware that his actions were those of one obsessed or extremely worried.

_ My, how eloquent we are! Perhaps she's not answering because she's with someone? _

Kuon relaxed his grip on his phone ever-so-slightly as it rang.  _ True… Kotonami-san is back today… maybe they're having a sleepover. Yes… she's probably having too much fun to notice her phone. _ He let out a relieved sigh.

_ But what if she's not with a girl?  _ Nernouk snickered.  _ Don't you remember? One time when you two were talking on the phone, she mentioned that she'd spent the day with her 'Hikaru-onii-san.' But don't you think that her version of onii-san is a little... skewed? _

_ Don't go there.  _ She still did not pick up.  _ I'm warning you - _

_ What are you going to do to me? You can't destroy me… I'm you. _

_ I hate you. _

_ You hate  _ you.

He grit his teeth as her phone once more sent him to voicemail.  _ Yeah, I do. We've been over this. _

_ So then what makes you think you're worthy of her? _

_ Nothing.  _ He sighed as he dialed for what he vowed would be the final time that night.  _ I know that I'm not, nor will I ever be, worthy of her. I don't deserve her, but… _

_ But what? _

_ But I  _ need _ her. _

_ Yeah, but what are the chances that she needs you? _

Before he could finish his argument with himself, a voice in his ear said, "Hello, Ren."

He yelped, not having expected her to actually pick up.

"Ren? Are you alright?" Her voice was tinged with concerned panic.

"Yes… yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry about that." He shifted so that he was sitting properly on the couch and leaned his head back. "How are you?"

"I'm doing quite well! I'm at Moko's right now, for a sleepover!" He could hear the smile in her voice. "And I'm so so so so sorry about missing your earlier calls! We were talking and I didn't hear my phone. I'm really sorry."

He vaguely wondered if she was doing a dogeza, but hoped that she wasn't. "No worries. I've done the same thing myself a few times when reading."

"A-And I'm really really sorry about this morning!"

"What about it?"  _ Had she not liked the Cinderella charade? _

"A-About my response to Moko, in the LoveME room… I really  _ did _ enjoy yesterday, I just wasn't sure how to explain it! A-And for calling it a date… that was out of… out of line. I-I'm sorry." He banished the notion from his mind that she was on the brink of tears. Surely she was just a bit stuffy, but if she were actually upset….

"If you were to think of it that way, I'd be greatly honored." (Ah, Ren, how sappy thou art.)

To his surprise, she let out a distressed wail (but sadly, no whales, especially not whales named Plagioclase, for that would just be ridiculous… honestly, who but the authoress would be mad enough to have even a plushie fitting such requirements?) of, "Stop being  _ perfect! _ "

_ Perfect? _ His laugh was tortured, almost harsh. "I'm not."

To his surprise, she seemed to understand that he was not yet ready to explain further. "W-Well, I'm glad that you forgive much more easily than the tire gnomes!"

It was with great difficulty that he restrained from releasing an undignified snort. Honestly, could she  _ be _ any less blatant about changing the topic? "T-Tire gnomes?" he choked out between small bursts of poorly disguised, half-true, half-stressed laughter. "What could you possibly do to offend tire gnomes of all things?"

"Well, it's a long story…."

"For you, I have all the time in the world." Nernouk commented that if Ren were to get any sappier, maple syrup could be made out of him. Kuon suggested that Nernouk shut up.

"Magikarp," came her slightly disgruntled mutter.

"Yes?" Really, it was amazing how quickly she could lift his mood.

"How am I supposed to respond to stuff like that?"

"Like what?" He felt a grin skate across his face.

"Hideously romantic stuff like that! It's like you've been snatched out of some - some fairy tale!" There was a hint of something almost pained in her voice.

"Well," he breathed, knowing he was treading in very dangerous waters where no loving whales named Plagioclase swam, "I believe the traditional response is…" He paused refraining from saying, ... _ joining me on a wild journey filled with adventure and danger, happiness and tears, testing our bonds and proving our love before riding away into the sunset and…. _

"...Is?" She prompted, filling the silence his imaginings had created.

"...living happily ever after." (Yes, pancakes do sound good… and look, there's plenty of sap with which to make syrup!) After hearing her squeak - and consequently becoming very glad he had not said his thoughts aloud and scared her - he cleared his throat and performed his own artless topic change. "So what happened with the tire gnomes?"

"Y-Yes!" Her voice crackled through the phone in relieved tones, spinning a tale of how she, at a very young age, had given a tire gnome a handmade hat as a thank-you gift for fixing one of her flat bike tires. As the hat had been made out of clumsily sewn fabric and a paper cup, the gnome had been greatly offended by what it presumed to be a cruel joke. Thereafter, the tire gnomes had refused to fix her tires. She had since attempted to create better hats - thus leading to her excellency concerning doll-making - but to no avail; gnomes are notoriously stubborn creatures, and thus do not forgive at the drop of a hat.

He chuckled. "Well, I'm sorry that you've had a falling-out with them. Let me know if I can help in any way."

"Thank you, but I don't think that even you'd be able to persuade them. Gnomes probably wouldn't even listen to Corn, and he's the prince of the faeries!"

His minor heart attack caused by these words was quickly brushed off as just a faerieland connection. "But wouldn't they listen to you?"

"No, I'm just a human! Besides, it was my fault in the first place. I should've know better than to offer a gnome a poorly made hat."

He grinned. "Oh, but aren't you a faerie princess, O princess of  _ Cor Meum _ ?"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line as for the second time that day, something clunked into place in Kyoko's head. "Ren, is that… is that Latin?"

"Yes…" Had he misread his folklore? Did faeries use another language?

A sense of his told him that Kyoko was hovering on the edge of speech, as if wondering whether or not she ought to ask for the translation. He silently begged her not to; after all, it would be extremely poor timing to confess (in the correct language, at least) at this point in their fairy tale.

She smiled, and though he could not see it, he sensed it. "Just curious. And… I was wondering… who now watches over  _ Cor Tuum _ ? You mentioned before that the heir was uncertain…."

_ It should be safe to tell her this much, at least. _ "Why, you do, princess."

"Then…" Here she paused, as if gathering her thoughts - or her nerve. "Then I trust that you would not object if I entrusted you with the kingdom?"

"You… are offering  _ Cor Tuum _ to me?"  _ Don't get your hopes up, don't get your hopes up, she doesn't know how it translates…. _

"A-Are you unhappy with the offer?"  _ Don't… but then why does she sound so nervous? _

"No, not at all." He swallowed, aware how dry his mouth was. "Indeed, nothing would please me more greatly than to care for  _ Cor Tuum _ for the rest of my days."

Her breathing was shaky; she almost sounded as if she were to cry - of happiness or of fright, he knew not which, but hoped desperately for the former. "Then… as you wish, my… my prince."

_ She doesn't know what that means, either… don't get your hopes up, don't…. _ "Thank you for the honor, my princess. Is there anything I can do in order to repay you for this great honor?"

"Y-Yes…." Her fingers tightened around her phone, causing a slight sound to come through the phone to Ren, as she willed herself to ask the crucial question."Um... Ren... I realize that this isn't really my place to ask, but..."

"Yes?" The surprise he had gotten from her not waving away his offer was not an unpleasant one, but her shy speech sent a wave of foreboding flooding over him (Plagioclase waved to him as he rode the wave).

Her words spilled forth in a jumble. "Do you think that eventually I could know your real name?"

He was silent, unsure how to process this request. Had she figured something out and wanted to know if she was right, or…?

"You see... I don't want to pry, and you don't have to tell me now or ever, if you don't want to, but... I made a promise in a moment of stupidity that I wouldn't fall in love with TsurugaRen."

"...I see." What was  _ that _ supposed to mean? What would his real name do for a promise like that… and to whom had she promised such a thing?

"And the thing is, I don't think that I have." She gave an odd, hiccuping laugh, but forced herself to continue; her angels cheered her on. "After all, _Tsuruga_ _Ren_ is a gentleman, who would never tease anyone, or lose his temper, or… or quibble like a child over whether or not he's sick... and he certainly wouldn't dress up like the p-prince of the faeries just for a mere k-kohai's sake... so I think that I can safely say that no l-l-love could ever exist there... between _Tsuruga_ _Ren_ and me." She bit her lip - he could almost sense the action.

He made a strange, choked sound, but could not answer - he was too overwhelmed by the implications of her words - so she plowed onward, the shaking of her hands making the phone rattle against her cheek.

"So... eventually... I'd like to know who that man is...the man who does all of those things... if you don't mind… because, um… I -" here she caught herself, and in a panic, said instead, "um,  _ boop _ !"

"What?" His mind wasn't making connections. She couldn't possibly mean…. The words he had sensed in the offing were surely no more than his fantasies, right?

"I-It's from an anime Setsu watched while waiting for Cain to wake up. It… um… it's an American anime. 'Boop' is a code that Nora uses." She paused, biting her lip. "B-But do you think I could know? Eventually? I-I mean, not if you don't want to tell, but if you do… um… I'd like to know… eventually? Maybe?"

His voice was hoarse; the even greater confusion and elation that would come later (as he did not yet know of which western anime Kyoko spoke) was not present now. "O-Of course. Eventually."  _ She couldn't possibly… no, no she couldn't… could she? _

She hummed into the phone, a relieved sound."Goodnight, my handsome prince."

"Sleep well, princess. _Cor_ _Meum..._ it will be at peace tonight." _She's relieved… why?_

"I think that your kingdom will be as well."  _ Does she know? _

"I hope so, princess. I really hope that  _ Cor Tuum _ will be at peace just as much as  _ Cor Meum  _ is."  _ Please. _

"I… I really think it will be… it will be safe with you, after all. Goodnight." Did she know that she had just said her heart was safe with him?

"Goodnight." He waited for her to hang up first, as always, before shutting off his own, but did not at first hear the click of her ending the call; instead, he heard a soft, slightly wet sound, almost as if she had pressed her lips to the receiver, sending him a kiss by wire… he returned the gesture. Seconds later, the click sounded in his ear, signalling that he could now close his own phone.

A grin crept across his face, despite the knowledge that he had quite a bit of explaining to do. Then, continuing with the Aladdin theme (he had caught her reference and replied in kind, after all), he let out a drawn-out, joyous "yes" and collapsed backwards onto his couch. He could worry later about whether or not she knew; as far as he was convinced, she had just given him the phone equivalent of a good-night kiss… and if he had read her correctly, he had a chance - a serious chance - with her.

After lying there, beaming, for several minutes, his gaze turned back to the phone in his hand. He bit his lip, clicked on an icon, and selected a contact he had not called in five years. The phone rang twice before a voice answered.

"This is Julie."

He returned to his native tongue, matching that of the speaker. "Hello, Mom."

There was a gasp on the other end of the line.

**Aaaaand end chapter! :D**

**Yeah, yeah, yeah… I know. That is a horrible place to end the chapter. BUT THERE WAS SO MUCH FLUFF! FLUFFITY FLUFF FLUFF ALL OVER THE PLACE!**

**Anyway, I hope that it made up for Ren's absence last chapter and filled your fluff quota for the week. Please don't expect the next one to be up as quickly, as that's not going to happen.**

**I hope you enjoyed this! Please drop me a line and feel free to ask anything you want! :)**


	7. How Can They Be Reunited?

**Hello hello! I am back! I don't own Skip Beat, but I hope you enjoy this 6000-plus word chapter, courtesy of moi. Oh, and I can promise that there's not a horrible cliffhanger at the end (for once).**

Kuon shifted his grip on his phone and sat up straighter, speaking in his mother tongue. "Mom? Are you still there?"

This question was met with a minute of dead silence, followed by a hushed whisper of, "...Kuon?"

"Yes, it's me. I'm sorry that-" His apologies were cut off by her sudden, earsplitting shriek, calling for Kuu to get on the other extension. The next few minutes were mostly teary ramblings and affirmations that yes, this was her baby boy and no, he wasn't dying and yes, he was calling of his own free will and not because the boss was forcing him to call. Eventually - out of nerves or genuine mirth, he wasn't quite sure - he stopped trying to answer their questions and just started laughing. His father's hearty chuckle soon joined in, followed by his mother's half-hysterical giggle. He could picture the tears streaming down her face as they always had when he'd done something that was both incredibly dangerous and ridiculous (yet somehow managed to make it out alive); his father probably had one arm around her as he laughed against the top of her head.

All three were oblivious to Plagioclase the whale, who was swimming through the air behind Kuon's head, proclaiming his message of love. (If he were able to see such specters, Lory would have gotten along fabulously with the whale.)

Once they had all quieted, Kuon continued, "I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to call. I didn't mean to shut you out so much."

"It's fine, son," Kuu chuckled. Kuon could imagine his father ruffling his hair in the way he had when he'd been young. "You've called us now, and that's all that matters."

"Well, I'm not forgiving you!" Julie huffed. "At least not until I'm allowed to see my own son again! When are you coming home?"

"I'm sure that if you told boss that I called you, he'd lift the ban." As Plagioclase had promised with his motto of, "It's okay; I still love you," everything was fine. Why had he been so afraid to call for so long? Had he really expected his parents to shun him? "I'd really like to see you, too."

"Then it's settled! We'll call the kidnapper and come visit you right away."

"But no matter how we schedule it, we can't get away for at least three days," his father intoned, disappointed. "And I get the feeling that our workaholic son wouldn't be too happy with us if we skipped work just to see him."

Kuon laughed, but did not argue the point as his father excused himself to go ask their managers to rearrange their schedules. "Well - answering your question from before - there is someone I'd like to explain everything to first, so I won't be coming home for a while. She - well, I've got a reason to stay."

"Oh? Who?" Julie's interest was piqued. "Who are you planning to - wait, do you mean  _ everything _ everything?"

Kuon winced.  _ Maybe I shouldn't have let that slip.  _ "Yeah… unless you have an objection?"

"Y-You mean that you're going to tell someone who you are? T-To tell them everything?" His mother was an odd mix of teary and over-enthusiastic, much like a cat witnessing her kitten kill its first catnip mouse.

"Yeah, plus a little beyond that."  _ Ah, well. Might as well see how deep the rabbit hole goes - or where the faerieland bridge takes me, as the case may be. _

"Beyond…?" He vaguely wondered if she was furrowing her brow as she always used to when he posed a particularly ridiculous question. "What do you mean, Kuon?"

"Well, it's… it's complicated." He cleared his throat. "H-How are you and Dad? Has everything been going okay over there?"

As Julie is Kuon's mother and therefore not easily diverted, she was not fooled by his feeble attempt to change the subject. "We're both doing wonderfully now that our darling son, who abandoned us for so many long years, has finally come back to us by using one of the wonders of modern technology. But why is the explanation of whatever 'beyond' you mean complicated?"

After taking a moment to work out her convoluted syntax, Kuon replied, "It's nothing really to worry about. I just have something extra to explain to her."

"'Her'?" He could almost hear the smile in his mother's voice. "Could this 'her' happen to be the girl your father calls the 'other Kuon'? Should I expect grandbabies soon?"

"Mom, we've been verbally reunited for just over ten minutes and you're already teasing me." Kuon sighed, but smiled. Why had he been worried about calling? What had he expected to change?

"Is it so wrong for me to want to know what's going on in my baby's life?"

"And she wonders how I can puppy-dog pout… I learned from the master," he muttered.

"What was that, my little rascal?"

He grinned, wondering why he felt about twelve years old. "Nothing, Mom. I was just about to tell you more. You see, I've met her before as Kuon."

"Then won't it be easier to tell her?"

"Harder, actually. She knows me as a faerie." In response to his mother's sudden gigglefit, he added, "In her defense, she was six at the time."  _ Although she was still convinced of it in Guam… maybe I won't mention that yet. _

"I bet she'll be thrilled to find out that you're her mystery faerie! She might fall right into your arms."

"Mom, please tell me you didn't just try to wink at me over the phone."  _...Please don't get my hopes up. _

"I must not tell lies." He heard her laugh. "So ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies!"

"You've been re-reading the fifth book, haven't you?" He'd almost forgotten that it was her favorite series…. "What number of read-throughs are you on now?"

"About seventeen, I think. I've been busy lately, so I've not been able to get it up to eightteen." She sighed; the sound echoed in his ear. "But I really do think that the other Kuon - from what I've heard of her from Kuu - will be thrilled to find out that you're her faerie. So don't be nervous."

"I'm not nervous, Mom."

"Liar." She was amused at his expense; he'd missed those days.

Before he could retort, his father's voice crackled over the phone again. "Prepare yourself, son! We're going to come in three days, so do whatever you have to between then and now so we can spend some time with our son."

"Which one?"

"Why, both of you!" Kuu declared, catching onto his biological son's line of thinking. "And at the same time, if I can wrangle it!"

Kuon let out a harsh laugh. "I think the together bit depends on whether or not she'll still be willing to speak to me."

"Huh?" Munching sounded in Kuon's ear; his father had obviously gotten something to eat when he'd gone to call their managers.

"I'm going to tell her who I am."

His father let out a low whistle. "...Wow. Boss was right."

Kuon blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Not that I wanted to believe him, of course, because it'd mean that my son was stealing my son from me! Not that I'm surprised, of course, as she obviously had a bit of a thing for you when she was cooking for me -"

" _ What _ ?" His mind was reeling. That couldn't be possible, right…?

"Yeah. I was trying to infuriate her and said some awful things about you which of course I didn't mean, but she reacted really strongly to the point where we actually got into a fight of sorts. I lost, but got to eat her food, so I guess I won in a way." His father paused, not knowing of his son's confusion, before continuing, "And then she was all beet red and apologetic the next day! But her food's phenomenal. Have you had any?"

Kuon snorted. "'Course I have. She insists that I don't eat properly - and then my manager connives and guilts her into coming over here and cooking. I don't mind - I mean, I'm grateful and happy to see her - but I wish that she wouldn't feel  _ obligated _ ."

"But have you been eating properly?"

"Do you really think that she wouldn't badger me to eat healthily?" Kuon raised an eyebrow. "She had me take videos of myself eating while I was abroad so she could be sure that I was eating proper meals."

"You two sound so adorable," Julie sighed. "So when can I expect to see my son and future daughter-in-law wed?"

"Mom, we're not together."

"Yet."

"I don't even know if she'll still be talking to me by the time you two get here!"

"She'll be perfectly fine with the fairy thing, Kuon." Julie grinned, though Kuon could not see it. "So hurry up and tell her so I can come meet this girl both of my men love so much!"

"But- I - it's not that simple to tell her!" He was struggling with his words, unused to speaking his native tongue. "Imagine if you were a seal - you'd just go right up to a dog and say, 'Yo, land dog, I'm a water dog!' No! It's not that simple, especially if you've been masquerading as a land dog for years! I mean - geez!" He then proceeded to huff, dropping his head against the back of the sofa with a  _ fump _ .

Kuu chuckled. "There. That sounds more like my brat of a son."

And together they laughed.

Kyoko, meanwhile, was switching back and forth between two vastly different emotions. One half of her was dancing around singing Disney songs; the other half was in a state of horrified panic and was curled up in a ball on the floor, rocking back and forth at great speed. Any normal human being would have been reduced to standing (or sitting) in a stupor by this clash of desires; as Kyoko is Kyoko, however, and is therefore by no means a normal anything, she was attempting to do both things at once - and nearly managing it. The end result, in short, was that when Kanae emerged from her bath, it was to find Kyoko alternately dancing from joy and curling up in despair - before nearly flying over to her bag to locate her Corn stone, only to drop her bag as if burned by some magic spell - and then repeating her earlier actions. May it be a point in Kanae's favor that she was not overly surprised by this sight.

"Should I even bother to ask?"

"Moko!" She bounced to her feet (having just been in the rocking-on-the-floor portion of her emotional instability) and threw her arms around her best friend. "I was thinking that we could start with doing each others' hair or having a pillow fight or -"

"Explanation first, girly sleepover crap second."

"But Moooookoooooooo…."  _ Would a puppy-dog pout work on her? Probably not, with her family…. _

"We made a deal." Kanae crossed her arms. "Or are you going to break a promise to your best friend?" She winced as she said this; though she knew it was necessary, a small part of her felt awful for consistently manipulating her best friend.

As the faerie-obsessed girl was at first too conflicted to explain, a certain cowgirl took over the driver's seat. Please take a moment, dearest reader, to appreciate Kanae's confusion when Kyoko's manner suddenly changed from her normal self to a country song's idea of a girl.

Annabel stretched her arms and tossed Kanae a grin. "Heya! Sorry for th'switch, but th'boss Kyoko is in too much of a tizzy right now t'splain herself to ya real well, so I thought I'd pop out 'n' do her th'favor. I'm Annabel, by th'way - Annabel Cooper." Her hand grasped Kanae's and gave it a firm shake.

_ Why? Why the hell can't you just tell me as yourself?  _ "And what corner of her mind did you crawl out of, may I ask?"

"Oh, I'm from the sleepover with Maria-chi that kinda spiralled into this whole fabulous fiasco," Annabel returned with another grin. "Y'see, it was when Maria-chi invited cowboy over -"

"Cowboy _? _ " Kanae echoed, amused incredulity dripping from her voice.  _ Are you telling me that you have a character who refers to that guy as 'cowboy'? _

"Oh, right, ya prob'ly know him as Tsuruga-kun. But anyway," (Kyoko's grudges took the opportunity to start singing a certain song by a band named after a type of trip) "since ya wanted th'full story, I might as well start from th'top, right?"

"Right…" Kanae shook several notions from her head and twisted her damp hair up into a messy bun. "So it all started at the Takarada place?"

"Yup! By th'time I arrived, Truth or Dare had already started -"

Kanae groaned. Truth or Dare, as a general rule, never ended well.

"-and after a bit of chaos 'n' explorin', we invited cowboy over to join us for dinner. He never eats on his own 'n' all that, y'know." There was a touch of fondness in the cowgirl's voice that both frightened and frustrated Kanae, who made a motion indicating that the other girl ought to get on with her story. Annabel complied. "So - yeah. Cowboy came over 'n' we made him eat a touch o'dinner, and after that we continued th'game from before - Truth or Dare, I mean. 'N' pretty close to th'end - when I'd zipped back to th'meetin' room - cowboy made th'boss Kyoko an offer she just couldn't refuse."

"And that would be…?"  _ I swear, if it's some other sappy fairy tale-type thing…. _

"Oh, th'usual sap stuff. Offerin' t'treat her like a princess 'n' be her prince." Annabel rolled her eyes. "Took that awful month for th'boss Kyoko to cave 'n' agree."

_ Of course.  _ "Could I talk to her for the explanation of the actual day? Is she calm now?"

"Sure thing. Just give 'er a sec - Mio 'n' Natsu are workin' their calm-yer-butt-down shpiel on her right now. Ya oughta be glad that I'm th'one who clawed her way out t'explain it to ya - Setsu was rarin' t'have a go at ya for all th'stuff ya've said 'bout her nii-san." Her head gave an odd little jerk. "See ya!"

_ Setsu…? Probably another character from that night.  _ "You good now?"

"Y-Yes… I'm sorry about that, Moko." Kyoko was blinking at her, as if to straighten out her thinking process. "I just needed a minute, and Annabel seemed the safest one to send out here."

"I'm not even going to pretend to understand what just happened - no, don't try to tell me, I really don't want to know." She held up a hand to prevent further discourse on the subject. "Just explain what happened yesterday."

"W-Well…." Thus, as ketchup comes from a squeeze bottle, Kanae coaxed the story out of Kyoko - haltingly, then in a gush. She told her best friend nearly everything she could remember, from the phone call when she accepted his offer to the point where Kanae herself had intercepted them that morning. She told of her wild fantasies and imaginings combining and becoming reality. Of the odd parallels between him and her fairy prince - of Corn, the stone and the faerie, in Kyoto and in Guam. Of communing with the faeries and eating her favorite food for lunch; of dressing as faerie royalty and acting the part. She told of the millions of details, big and small, that had been worked into the day - of the Disney mix he had blended just for her, of his singing along to it  _ with _ her. The carousel, the pseudo-courtly speech, the fact that she got to keep the make-up and costume, their encounters with the various people, their dance together, the potato pancakes, his crowning of her as the princess of  _ Cor Meum _ … her acceptance of the second half of his offer… their royal portraits and his insistence that the magic mirror wasn't broken when it only showed her… their dinner at his place… their goodnight…  _ everything. _

Kanae stared at her friend, mouth hanging slightly open. She spoke with an exhale, "Mo."

"Moko?" Kyoko glanced up at her friend, fear in her eyes.

"What?"

Her voice was small. "Do you hate me now?"

"Why would I hate you?" She rolled her eyes. "You went on a date. You panicked over it as expected. You told me about it in excruciating detail. Whoopty-freaking-do."

"So you  _ don't _ hate me?"

"We already covered this. I am  _ not  _ going through that again."  _ Breathe, Kanae. _ "Look, outside of - I don't know - wrecking my career or murdering my family, there's very little that you could do to make me hate you. I'm too used to your insanity by now to ever -  _ get off of me _ !"

For Kyoko had, of course, launched herself at her best friend. "I-I-I was j-just so scared that y-you'd hate me for becoming a s-s-s-stupid woman again, and - and - and I don't want to be like that again, but I don't want to  _ not _ be near him, and I'm so  _ disgusted _ with myself and - and -!"

_ Fwap. _

Kanae lowered the floor cushion with which she had smacked her friend across the face. To her surprise, far from having calmed her friend, the impact had brought a devilish smile to Kyoko's face. She realized why a second too late to duck the cushion the faerie-obsessed girl swung at her.

"Pillow fight!"

"Mo, that's not what - oh, take that!" Thus, a brief insanity break ensued as the two girls had a pillow fight. Many flying floor cushions later, the sweaty pair lay panting on the floor of the apartment, laughing.

"I finally got to have a pillow fight!" Kyoko beamed at her friend, eyes sparkling.

Kanae brushed the sparkles off of her shoulders. "You do realize that all I was trying to do was calm you down, right?"

"...Maybe."

"You're lucky that all the floor cushions are out of reach."

"I'd get one for you, but they're all the way over there," Kyoko yawned, pointing across the room. "What were you going to say, by the way? I'm sorry for interrupting you."

"Huh - oh. Right." Kanae gave herself a little shake and hoisted herself up onto her elbows so that she could better look at her best friend. "As for your worry over becoming a stupid woman again… answer me this: are you going to let it take over your life? Are you still going to enjoy acting and spending time with your friends and pseudo-family if he's not there at that specific time, or are you going to mope about him not being there?"

Kyoko was nonplussed. "I'd still enjoy myself, of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"Then you'll be perfectly fine, so stop worrying. If you get too deep into it and start babbling about him too much, then I'll just drag you over here and smack you with another floor cushion."

"...Really?"

"That is what best friends are for." She rolled away from yet another hug. "Anything else you're internally spazzing about?"

_ Yes. No. I don't know.  _ She smiled her best sales-woman smile. "Nope! Not a thing!"

_ Fwap. _ Kanae had rolled within arm's reach of another floor cushion. "I am  _ not _ going to be fooled by that smile of doom again. Spill."

Kyoko tossed the cushion back to her friend. "What are you talking about? I'm f-"

"No."

"But I'm -"

"No."

"B-"

"No."

Kyoko sighed, defeated by the icy gaze of the girl she had claimed as her best friend. "It's just… I'm confused," she admitted, voice small.

"About what?" Kanae inquired, sitting up properly on the floor cushion.

Kyoko fetched one from the far side of the room and hugged it as she sat down facing her best friend. "I don't know what I want, is all."

_ The longer she talks, the more I feel like we're in some shojo manga. _

"I… I  _ do _ want to be happy - but I don't really understand what happiness even is! I thought I knew for a while, but now I'm not sure…. And I do trust him to treat me well, should the impossible ever happen - I mean, he does already, to a ridiculous point - it's just… I trust him, but he's still a  _ guy _ . I just don't  _ know _ , Moko… I… I want to be happy and -" she paused, clutching her floor cushion more tightly to her chest, and made an odd gulping sound, trying to force the words out - "I w-w-want to be… w-with him, but… I don't know if I'm  _ ready. _ I mean, I'm still so broken, and…." She trailed off, leaving her friend to stare at her, dumbstruck by what the girl had finally admitted.

"So," Kanae blinked, absorbing the information and using her acting skills to hide her intermingled relief, shock, and mild disgust, "tell him that."

"Huh?" Her grip on her floor cushion slackened.

"When the time comes, tell him what you just told me - you trust him and want to be with him, but you're not sure if you're ready. If he's worth your time at all, he'll understand. If not, I'll work with you and Maria-chan to come up with the best curse possible. Deal?" She held up her hand.

Kyoko clasped it with one of her own, a small, reassured smile playing around the corners of her mouth. "Deal."

"Good. Anything else?" Kyoko shook her head. "For real?" A nod. "Okay, then - one last thing before we do whatever sleepover stuff you want."

"Yes?"

The elder of the two girls grinned, a teasing tone entering her voice. "I promise not to spoil your future kids - that's the president's job. I'll just be the fun almost-aunt they stay with when you two go out on dates,  _ if _ my schedule allows."

"MOKO!" Kyoko yelped in scandalized tones.

"That's what you get for making me listen to sappy love problems!" She was laughing as she dodged Kyoko's indignant cushion-toss in her general direction. "Now, what do you want to do first - hair, or blind makeovers, or what? I'm guessing that you want to avoid Truth or Dare."

At which point Kyoko (as she is Kyoko and therefore ridiculously excited by such events) let out a ludicrously large gasp and was rendered speechless by her joy - resulting in Kanae smacking her in the face with another floor cushion to return her to her senses. Kyoko did not mind overly; after all, a floor cushion to the face is much easier to deal with than even  _ more _ mind-bamboozling realizations… and she still had quite a few wires to connect.

"C-Can we do hair first?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you want. D'you want to do mine first or should I do yours?"

"I-I want to play with yours! Please?" She clapped her hands together, looking at her best friend with eyes brimming with the type of hope that glows a dull orange.

She turned so that her back was towards her best friend and undid her messy bun, slipping the hair tie around her wrist. "Yeah, yeah - just please, no pigtails. I don't do pigtails."

"No worries! I shall give Moko a French braid worthy of an empress!" Her fist made a soft  _ thump _ as she put it to her chest, emphasizing her declaration.

"Have you ever done one before?" The raven-haired girl inquired as the said tresses were given over to the mercy of the other girl.

"No, but I know the theory - oh!" The strands slipped through her fingers. "Moko, do you mind if I take pictures so I can remember my first-ever sleepover?"

A brilliant, fiendish idea dropped into Kanae's mind. "Not at all - actually, that's a  _ great _ idea. Here, give me your phone - I'll take one now." Kyoko obliged, beaming, and began her working with the strands; Kanae, with a grin of her own, opened the phone and snapped a shot of the pair of them. When she opened the "saved" photos to look at it, however, she discovered something else.

"Do I even  _ want _ to know why you have a picture of a sleeping Tsuruga and a stuffed sheep?"

"Probably not," Kyoko quipped, fingers working at Kanae's scalp.

"Are you going to tell me anyway?"

"If you want me to, Moko."

"Sure, why not - it's not like I'll be moving anytime soon." And so Kyoko explained how she came to have that picture - which in turn led to Kanae questioning  _ why _ that man spent so much time in the LoveME room. "It's not as if its garish colors make for a particularly calming environment."

"It is kind of weird how much time he spends in there, when he's got time off. I wonder why…?" Her fingers were moving more quickly now; she slid in a few strands from the base of Kanae's neck.

"Probably to see you - ow!"

"Sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to pull on your hair, I just -"

"Were startled. Yeah, yeah. But still, that's probably why he drops by so often." She could not resist a snicker.

"Moko!" Kyoko whined, twining her friend's still-damp hair into a slick braid. "Stop teasing me!"

"Hey, it's not often I actually have something good to tease you about. Be glad that I'm not going on about your fairy prince - mo, be careful! I'm going to be bald!"

Kyoko's face was a brilliant red. "D-Don't mention Corn! It'll make me even more confused!"

Kanae laughed, but did not press the matter - the last thing they needed was Kyoko getting worked up again. She let out a long breath through her nose and allowed her shoulders to relax. It had been a while since she'd let someone else do her hair - she'd forgotten how pleasant it could feel… then again, with her family, it was generally a more painful feeling. Her best friend was very gentle, in more ways than one.

"Moko, do you have a hair tie? I forgot to grab one."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, here." She slipped the hair tie off of her wrist and handed it back.

"Thank you!" A few tugs later, she announced, "You're all done!"

"I'll go take a look, then." She lurched to her feet (she had been sitting for a while, after all) and walked to her bathroom to use the mirror; when she returned, it was to a girl strung up in a peculiar predicament.

Somehow, in the minute and a half it had taken for Kanae to note that her new style was decent-looking, Kyoko had managed to both find the sole spool of ribbon in the apartment and get herself completely tangled in it. She would have looked pathetic had the sight not been so amusing.

"Mooookoooo… I'm sorry… it was sitting there, all lonely, and wanted to be played with. I thought I could unspool some to tie at the end of your braid, but…." She made a helpless gesture with her tangled hands - or tried to; she only managed to get further tangled in the ribbon. Kanae snorted and found a pair of scissors to free her friend - but first, she took another picture with Kyoko's phone.

"I swear, you get in trouble more easily than anyone I've ever met." Had it not been for the fondness in her voice, Kyoko might have thought that Kanae was chastising her. She gave a sheepish laugh (tempting the authoress to  _ ram _ baa-d puns into the dear reader's brain) as the ribbons ensnaring her fell to the floor. Once she had been freed, she tied one of the shorter strands to the end of Kanae's braid and then presented her friend with her back.

"My turn!" The girl was in seventh heaven - or perhaps only sixth; after all, the night was not over, nor was she surrounded by fluff (in either sense of the term). Kanae rolled her eyes and set to putting her best friend's hair into dozens of tiny ponytails with ribbon. When she was done, she instructed her friend to look back over her shoulder - and snapped another picture.

Kyoko bounced to her feet and ran to look in the mirror - and then hurtled back at top speed to hug her friend. "Thank you so much, Moko! I'm so happy!"

"Mo, you're welcome. Get off. How are we supposed to do something else with you hanging off of me like this?" She nearly laughed at how quickly the latter sentence made her friend relinquish her hold.

"Wh-What's next?" She was beaming, eyes shining - Kanae snapped another picture.

"How about makeovers - then raiding my closet and acting characters to match? Then later we can eat random junk and crash watching a movie. My cousin gave me one you'd probably like -  _ The Princess Bride _ ." She clapped her hands over her ears to protect them from the squeal that emitted from Kyoko at these words.

"That sounds  _ wonderful! _ "

Plagioclase the loving whale was having a grand time. Of course, he usually was (as Plagioclase is Plagioclase and therefore loves everyone and everything), but he was especially enjoying himself that evening. After all, it's not often that a specter such as himself is able to eavesdrop on half of a conversation between a newly-reunited son and parents.

"That sounds bizarre. How can you eat all that?"

Plagioclase hummed. The trio seemed to have overcome any brief awkwardness caused by separation.

A laugh. "Yeah, but -"

He got cut off; the voices on the other end of the line seemed to be scolding him; something about the late hour. Plagioclase snickered.

"Three days, I know, I know. I'll tell her by then."

Softer tones; the loving whale approved.

"Yeah. I love you, too. Sleep well, Mom, Dad."

The conversation ended. The boy - well, man, Plagioclase supposed (whales are inept when it comes to determining the ages of humans) - smiled at his phone before shutting it and standing up to walk to his sleeping quarters.

The whale smiled as only whales can. Tonight, he decided, was a good night… though the night coming within three days' time was sure to be better.

"B-But Moko…."

"C'mon, you want to be an actress, right? Give it a go. I don't care if you use one of the characters you've got already, just try it."

"B-But this is so…."

"Are you telling me you can't do this when you made me act out an  _ alien _ ?" Kanae demanded, pointing to her green-and-silver-decorated face. "Surely you can handle this. It's just one of my light dresses. If you want," she grinned here, a devilish spark in her eyes, "you could act like you did with your prince in the park yesterday. Or," she amended, when the grudges begged to come out, "you could show me some of Natsu's lighter side, when she's not torturing someone. I don't care. Just do  _ something _ ."

Kyoko struggled with herself for a few moments - on her, Kanae's dress was a touch lower in the front than she'd like, almost low enough for Setsu to approve - before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.  _ Okay, everyone, I'm going to need a mixture of Natsu, Setsu, and Annabel - plus a bit of you, Anne, before you turned evil… good. Remember, this is Moko, so no bloodshed -  _ none _ , Nacchan. ...Ready? Then let's go. _

Her eyes opened - not as wide as they did for her usual self, but wider than Natsu's did; a smirk tugged at the edges of her lips without reaching the center. She set her feet a bit further apart than usual; her hips listed to her left, one hand resting at her waist. The other reached up to play with her ribboned hair. When she spoke, her words were smooth and deliberate.

"Hey, Kanae."

It was this address, more than anything else, that surprised her friend. She took a quick photo before responding. "Yes?"

"Do you have a radio anywhere?" Annabel egged her on, whispering an idea into this character's translucent ear. "I want to dance."

Kanae pointed to the small radio on her shelf. "Knock yourself out."

"Don't think I will, thanks. Last I checked, concussions are no fun." Yes, that bit was Natsu - so was her walk, with a few lighter steps thrown in for good measure. The radio was on; music was found.

And she danced.

Kanae laughed.

Yes, it was an odd mixture of traditional dancing with awkward T-rex-like hand movements and random spins thrown in for good measure, but it was a dance… so she took pictures, laughing until she was on the brink of tears.  _ How did I get stuck with this weirdo for a best friend? _

Kyoko took a bow and slipped out of her character, a blush coloring her face as a grin chased it.

_ I don't know how… but for some reason, I really don't mind. _ …At which point Kanae realized how sappy she sounded and decided that, since it was getting late, they really ought to just watch the movie and go to bed. The pair removed their make-up; then Kyoko trotted off to take a quick shower, leaving the elder girl to get the room ready.

Plagioclase did not sleep.

It was not that he did not need to; he simply chose not to, not yet.

He knew that something more was to happen this night, and so chose to wait, listening to the contented breathing of Japan's most sought-after bachelor.

"Ready?" Kanae called through the bathroom door, unrolling her abnormally large futon (courtesy of her elder brothers). "The previews are almost over!"

"Coming!" A series of clunks and a lone "ow" preceded the girl from the room. "Here I am!"

Kanae did not comment on her friend's fairy nightgown, instead opting to take yet another photo of the girl before her. "I made popcorn."

"Ooh, thank you! I love popcorn!" She plopped down next to her friend, peering at the video box in Kanae's hands. "A foreign film?"

A nod. "It's supposed to be amusing - it's kind of old, so the special effects aren't that great. It should be good for a laugh."

"I hope so!" The movie began playing; they were only paying half-attention to it.

"Wait!" Kanae exclaimed, struck by an evil, awful,  _ wonderful _ idea as the fairy-clad girl reached for the popcorn. The elder girl picked up a kernel and balanced it on the tip of the other girl's nose. "Puppy eyes."

Kyoko, thinking it was all in play, gave her friend her best puppy-dog eyes - the ones she had learned from Cain. Kanae snapped a picture. In the background, the movie continued to play; its words fell upon Kyoko's ears.

"...that when he was saying 'As you wish,' what he meant was 'I love you'..."

Kyoko's head whipped around, the popcorn falling into her lap unnoticed. Ignoring her best friend's confused expression, the younger of the two scrambled for the remote to rewind the movie. She could not have heard that properly. Sure, by Moko's logic, it made sense, but for it to actually be true? Ridiculous. She hit play, only to hear the same line.

She rewound it again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And aga -

"Enough already!" Kanae snapped, snatching the abused remote from Kyoko. "What is  _ with _ you?"

"Moko," she squeaked, eyes wide, "w-w-what is the likelihood that Ren has seen this movie or read its book?"

"How the hell should I know? What does it - no, don't tell me. Let me guess." She heaved a sigh. "While he was all dolled up as a fairy-knight-prince-thing, he offered you something, you replied, and he went along with it while saying  _ that _ instead of yes."

A nod.

"And judging from your face, you probably said it back at some point, not knowing what it meant. Yes?"

Another nod. The movie continued playing in the background, ignored.

"Then get over it already. He probably knew that you didn't know, and you now have near-definite evidence that he's mad about you. Congratulations. Now are you going to be all googly-eyed and tomato-cheeked over your fairy knight, or are you going to enjoy a sleepover with your best friend?"

Kyoko beamed at her. "Of course I'll enjoy a sleepover with you! ...But could we watch a different movie?"

"Nope. You still have to see the R.O.U.S.s."

"The what?"

"Rodents Of Unusual Size."

Kyoko laughed and threw a piece of popcorn at her best friend.

_ Deedle-laa-doo-deedle-laa-doo-laaaaa _

_ Deedle-laa-doo-deedle-laa-doo-laaaaa _

_ Deedle-laa-doo-deedle-laa-doo-laaaaa _

Kuon groaned, rolling over and groping around on his bedside table for his cell phone.

_ Deedle-laa-doo-deedle-laa-doo-laaaaa _

Plagioclase swam into the room, summoned by the impending event, in time to hear Kuon grumble in his native tongue. He came to rest on the actor's right shoulder just as the man realized that the message was from Kyoko's phone and accessed it - which was composed of a long string of pictures, new ones arriving every twenty seconds or so. The loving whale felt warm inside as a brilliant grin stretched across the actor's face.

"Are these all… Kyoko? Why?" he murmured, clicking through the pictures and saving each to his phone. "Oh, she's at Kotonami-san's…. How did she get tangled in those… ribbons…?"

Plagioclase gave the man a sidelong glance as his chuckles became something deeper, melting into almost a growl. The next picture came into view, causing the man's growl to change into a smile.

"I wonder if I'll be seeing that hairstyle on her sometime soon." He clicked to the next picture - her face was bursting with enthusiasm. He stared at it for a few moments, permitting the fantasy to emerge that she was that excited about  _ him _ , before setting it as her contact picture.

Plagioclase basked in the glow of the actor's smile for a moment before silently urging him to look through the rest of the pictures - all of which, the reader and this whale may safely assume, were taken by a certain dark-haired girl.

The next few pictures were of various make-up experiments, both pretty and bizarre (Kanae's alien face was not included). The next couple, however, took him by surprise. "A… who did she make this time?" And then he found the pictures of his would-be lover dancing. He could not decide whether he ought to laugh or simply stare at her beautiful awkwardness. For the sake of his sanity, his hurried to the next picture.

"Of  _ course _ she has a fairy nightgown… why does she have to be so adorable?"

Plagioclase did not answer, even though Plagioclase is Plagioclase and therefore is an expert on the various forms of love.

"Oh, lord..." Kuon breathed, having come upon the puppy-eyes and popcorn picture. His head found his knees; he willed himself to take deep breaths, to calm down. He had a feeling that that face would haunt his dreams for many a night to come.

_ Deedle-laa-doo-deedle-laa-doo-laaaaa _

His phone lit up one last time; this time, the picture had a caption. He snorted, surprised.

The last picture was of a sleeping Kyoko cuddled against Kanae's side, dreaming with a big smile on her face; Kanae was glaring into the camera, looking for all the world like a tiger protecting its sister. The caption read:

"You have been granted limited approval. Should you ever hurt her, I will plant white roses just to water them with your blood. If you want to be with her, you've got to go through me."

He smiled and replied (hoping - and as luck would have it, this is indeed what happened - that Kanae would delete their messages later), "Thank you, and I don't plan to - but if that day comes, then by all means, water a botanical garden. I hope you'll allow me to stay in her life."

_ Deedle-laa-doo-deedle-laa-doo-laaaaa _

"Good. I will, for now. Goodbye."

He chuckled at her brevity. "Goodbye."

Plagioclase beamed as the actor clicked through the photos once more, making sure that they had all been saved to his phone, before putting the device back on his bedside table, rolling over, and falling into a slumber haunted by a certain fairy-clad girl.

**And cut!**

**So no direct interaction fluff this time (and as promised, no cliffy), but I** **_finally_ ** **got to write the photo scene. That was actually one of the first things I planned, months and months ago, when I was thinking of random oneshot ideas. It has now become part of this monstrosity. Woot. Also, don't expect a quick update. Next week will be crazy-busy and I don't have a clue yet how to transition into the next part. See y'all next time!**

**I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading and please leave a review for the glory of Plagioclase! :D**


	8. How Can She Begin to Understand?

**I don't own Skip Beat, but I hope you enjoy this anyway!**

Ren awoke from a series of exceptionally pleasant dreams with a plan in mind. It was something of a brash, foolish plan, yes, but it was a plan nonetheless - and he did not have much time. Somehow, in the next three days, he had to coordinate enough time with Kyoko in order to explain himself as best he could. Though it pained him to admit it, he had no other choice. Yashiro was the best for a reason. There ought to be some way to utilize the man's talents without admitting why he'd need such a large chunk of time on such short notice, but for the life of him he could not think of one.

Thus, it was with careful timing that Ren voiced his request to his manager when the pair was in full view - but not earshot - of the public. Yashiro, he knew, would not risk the oh-so-carefully constructed image of Tsuruga Ren for the sake of prying about Kyoko. Yes, he would  _ want _ to, but he would not… and so, Ren asked while he parked his car.

"Is there any way that you could arrange an evening off for me within the next," he paused, doing some mental calculations, "two days, one that also works for Kyoko?"

If he had not been the subject of his manager's violently suppressed emotion, Ren would have found the near-volcanic expression on Yashiro's face amusing; as he was, however, he did not. The elder man swallowed. "With difficulty, but might I know why?"

"I have something that I need to tell her - and I've got a time limit." To avoid an explosion, he added, "I'll need to explain some things to you, too, but she has a greater claim to this information. After all, part of it is her story, too." Leaving his manager suitably confused, he opened the door and walked off towards the building for his next job, not noticing that the crowd around the front doors was much more subdued than usual.

Kyoko awoke to a rope of raven locks slithering its way down her face and the shifting warmth of a body next to her. After a brief moment of panic, she remembered where she was and sat up with a smile, moving slowly so as to not disturb her best friend. Waking up next to someone - whether that someone was a little sister or a best friend - made her life feel a little less lonely… not that she was lonely that much anymore, she realized. Since becoming part of LME's crazy world of entertainment, so many people had come into her life that she was scarcely ever alone. With this pleasant notion in mind, she finished disentangling herself from her lightly snoring best friend and padded out to the kitchen to make breakfast. Kanae rolled onto her other side and continued sleeping, curled under the blankets as if to protest the lack of warmth.

Kanae's refrigerator, Kyoko was pleased to discover, was much better-stocked than Ren's - not that that was a difficult feat. Its contents were almost exclusively healthy food, though there were some sweet tidbits, one of which had a note from her older brother attached, stating that the family had taken the liberty of re-stocking her fridge while she'd been gone, and admonishing her to come visit more often. The first LoveME girl bit back a giggle as she tucked the note away and fished out the ingredients she'd need for breakfast.

A song popped into her mind and slipped through her closed lips, filling the room with a soft, off-key hum. Her whisk blended with the notes, creating an odd accompaniment. The cracking eggshells and chopping vegetables were her bass section. Yes, a western-style breakfast would work nicely - vegetables chopped up in an omelet. She would've liked to have topped it off with cheese (the string section of her orchestra), but none existed in Kanae's fridge.

Onions and leeks performed a tap dance in Kanae's mind; or, at least, they had been until she'd questioned their ability to tap-dance without legs. They were now lying on a countertop, lamenting their lack of legs with sizzling sounds emitted by their equally nonexistent mouths. The girl blinked; the vegetables were replaced by her ceiling, but the sizzling sounds did not cease. She sat up, blinking sleep out of her eyes as the events of the previous day settled into place in her mind.  _ Right, _ she yawned,  _ sleepover. Sap. Kyoko. _

"Moookooo!" sang the girl in question, bouncing into the room. "Breakfast is ready! I made a veggie omelet for us to split!"

Kanae's neck cracked as the girl stood and stretched. "Thanks, but you didn't have to do that. I could've made something for us."

"Yes, but I wanted to cook for Moko since I woke up first! Besides," she added, her smile becoming a tad less exuberant, "you listened to my rant yesterday and helped me figure out what was going on! It was the least I could do to thank you for helping me get my head on straight!"

"Yeah, yeah." The elder girl waved these words away (for they had, of course, manifested in the form of flying, vibrant, sparkling hearts) with a flick of her hand. "Since you cooked, let's dig in. Then we should get dressed and head over to LME by bike. Sound good?"

"Yes! It'll be great to ride together!"

"Where do you  _ get _ all that energy so early in the morning?" Kanae yawned, wandering out to the kitchen and untwining her hair, allowing it to fall in damp waves down her back.

Kyoko shrugged and plopped down at the table, beaming as her best friend joined her, and then raised an extremely ugly but absolutely beautiful fish-shaped mug in a toast.

"Itadakimasu!"

"Good work, everyone! That's it for today's shoot! Remember that we're meeting at the park for the location shoot next Friday!" Having called this to all the workers, the head photographer packed up his camera and wandered away to drink an apple juice box (or mango, if he could find one), leaving everyone else to clean up the general area and get on with their mornings. Ren, for his part, went about his motions in something of a daze, having been reminded of a certain near-fae by the word "park." Yashiro, after steering his charge back to his dressing room and shutting the door, permitted an evil smirk to creep across his face.

"A bit distracted, are we, loverboy?"

Ren blinked. " _ What? _ "

"You only board satellites like that when something reminds you of Kyoko-chan."

"Excuse me, but I've never been to space in my life," he retorted as he began changing.

"Really?" Yashiro quirked an eyebrow. "Then why are you always spacing out?"

" _ What? _ "

"Come now, don't be so  _ Sirius _ ! I'm not  _ dogging  _ a big  _ star _ like you that much, am I?" Yashiro chuckled. "Oh, and about the evening you wanted with Kyoko-chan -"

"Yes?"

"Don't worry, I'll  _ planet _ for you, but I can't book you a room on the moon - it's full."

" _ Yashiro- _ " Ren growled, realizing what his manager was doing.

"What?" the more fiendish of the two snickered. "All I was wondering was when you're going to make Kyoko like Saturn - you know, put a ring on her."

"Yashiro, I'm not in the mood for your puns."

" _ Comet _ me, then!" Yashiro laughed, ducking the shirt Ren tossed at his face.

"Tsuruga-san." A wild Sebastian had appeared at Yashiro's shoulder, startling the manager cutting off the dialogue as effectively as if he had used scissors. "The president requests your presence at your soonest convenience."

Ren shook his head to clear it of orbiting space puns. "Of course. I'll be up as soon as I can."

"I am to escort you." Sebastian bowed and stepped outside of the room, his oddly sedate outfit rustling. "I shall await you in the hall."

"Thanks." As the door swung shut behind Sebastian, Ren looked at his manager. "Time?"

"Yes, there should be enough time to squeeze in a quick meeting with the president, but you're going to be running ragged until you see Kyoko-chan tomorrow evening."

"Tomorrow?" he echoed, his movements slowing.  _ I need to tell her. How? How should I start? _

"Yes, tomorrow!" Yashiro exclaimed in exasperation. "You asked me to find a time within the next two days, and since you asked this morning, I assumed that that included today!"

"Ah, yes… right. Right. That  _ is _ what I meant."

"Then snap out of it and get dressed. You've got a meeting with the resident Lovemon."

"Moko, why is everyone whispering so much?" Kyoko wondered as the pair rode past the front entrance of LME and towards the newly-installed and utterly garish LoveME entrance. Honestly, it was if the president had overstocked on glittering orange paint (this was false, as the man in question was merely trying to increase the love for what had, at one point, been voted the most hated color for decorating).

"How should I know? I've been abroad." Kanae rolled her eyes as they locked their bikes to the glow-in-the-dark-green, heart-shaped bike rack with which Lory had provided them. "Let's hurry, it's going to rain."

"Okay!" Kyoko grinned and followed her best friend into the building.

"By the way," Kanae said as they changed into their LoveME uniforms, "don't you have school today?"

"Hmm? No, we've got today off for special teacher meetings."

"Lucky for you, then," she yawned. "Mo, I'm tired."

"I'm sorry, Moko! Did I keep you up too late?" She let out a gasp of horror. "Oh, no! And right after you got home! I -"

"Shush." Kanae smacked her hand across Kyoko's jabbering mouth. "It's fine. The sleepover was my idea anyway."

The door to the LoveME room swung open, admitting Chiori. "Hey, did you hear - what happened this time?"

"Nothing of importance," Kanae replied, releasing the now-calmer Kyoko. "What were you going to say?"

"I was just wondering if you'd heard the buzz - it's all over the news."

The ride up to Lory's office was as eventful as ever. Today there was a small bird - brown, but with an earth-toned peacock-type tail - perched on the elevator's rail. It stared at them as they entered, as if it were somehow aware of the buzz outside of LME's walls. Sebastian motioned to the bird; it tilted its head but otherwise did not move.

"I wonder what the president wants to talk to you about," Yashiro said into the silence.

"...about."

Ren shrugged. "I've got an idea."  _ Mom and Dad, probably. _

"...idea."

Sebastian coughed; instants later, a coughing sound echoed in the elevator.

"What  _ is _ that?" Yashiro muttered.

"...that."

Sebastian indicated the bird before explaining (as Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore knows all), "The lyrebird can mimic a wide variety of sounds. This one - Lorenzo - enjoys riding in elevators and bothering passengers."

"...passengers."

"I see."

"...tundra."

Before Yashiro had sufficient time to react to this play on words (icy tundra, naturally), the elevator doors slid open, admitting them to Lory's floor. Sebastian permitted the other two men to lead the way, slipped a cracker to Lorenzo (as Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore understands and appreciates wordplay, however pathetic), and then followed.

The doors swung open; a blast of heat swamped over the trio. The room was darker than usual, but had undertones of deep red light running throughout, giving off an overall effect of being inside a hollow chocolate-raspberry cake. Ren blinked, the utter lack of over-stimulation snapping him out of his reverie; when he re-focused his eyes, he was met with the sight of a smirking Lory clad in something that could only be described as black in color and earthy in texture. He was still trying to decipher what the president was wearing when Maria burst through a hidden door in a swirl of fiery chaos, the colors on her dress glowing in the dull lighting. Lory, it was plain to see, had indulged her wish to become fire… and to match, he had become a fancy lump of that which Santa Claus gives to poorly behaved children. For the sake of his sanity, Ren elected to ignore the latter part of this fact.

Maria plowed into Ren with all the force of an angry labradoodle. "Ren-sama! It's terrible!"

"What's wrong?" he inquired, lifting her.

"Your portrait-taker turned traitor! Pictures of you and onee-san are all over the news!" She pouted, then added with venom, " _ And she isn't even here yet!" _

"I - what?" Ren shot an appealing look at Lory, begging for more information.

"It's really quite simple," the great tzar of coal explained, linking his fingers together and resting his chin on them as he spoke. "The stuttering photographer whom you had take the 'royal portraits' on your date with Mogami-kun decided that it would be more to his advantage to sell copies of the portraits to the media than to keep them under wraps. He has since used the money he gained to retire to Hokkaido, where he shall pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a potato farmer. I'm sorry, Ren. I know that you were trying to be discreet, but the photographer released your name with the photos."

"Did he release Kyoko's?" he inquired, setting Maria on the floor; she hurried off to check if Kyoko had arrived yet.  _ My career can probably withstand this, but I'm not sure how it would affect hers. _

"No."

"Thank God," he sighed, slightly relieved. "So what actions do you suggest we follow?"

"Yukihito-kun will have to do some damage control, of course." The manager nodded in agreement. "Mostly, however, you'll just have to keep being professional. A few rumors can't really hurt your reputation, but if you wish we can arrange an interview - but you'd best have a good explanation. I suggest keeping everything quiet unless Mogami-kun's name gets out… and next time, make sure that your disguise is better. People would've recognized you even if your name hadn't been released."

"Yes, sir." Ren bowed. "I'm sorry about the trouble."

"As well you should be, you brat. I understand wanting to spoil her a little, but doing something so publicly was over-the-top. Especially those outfits - your cravat was nearly as fancy as my prized one! And you'd do it again, wouldn't you?" The great tzar of coal snorted when Ren looked off to the side, shame etched in every crevice of his face. "And stop pretending to be ashamed of yourself. We both know that you regret nothing."

Ren gave a sheepish smile. "You know me too well, president."

"You really expected anything less?" Lory snickered before turning his attention to the manager. "Now, Yukihito-kun, you have some work to do on damage control. Go start that while I discuss one last thing with Ren."

"Right away." Yashiro bowed and took his leave, only a bit disappointed that he might miss further teasing of Ren.

"I received a call at an ungodly hour last night," Lory began, examining his fingernails with detachment. "Two shrieking voices babbling some gibberish about a baby boy finally coming to his senses. Care to explain?"

"I called them last night." This statement, simple as it was, had a profound effect on Lory, who sat up and ceased his fingernail inspection.

" _ You _ called  _ them _ ? Not the other way around?"

"Yeah," Ren confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I finally got my courage up enough to do it."

"And exactly how much is this stunning development due to Mogami-kun?"

"Indirectly or directly?" Ren inquired, moving to his left to let Natsuko through to her coal-clad master.

"I know that indirectly, it's all her doing. I'm wondering more about directly." Lory shifted in his seat, permitting Natsuko to slither onto his lap and around his shoulders.

"I…" Ren paused, biting his lip. "I don't know. I don't think that she knows the whole story about my parents, so it wasn't anything she said directly."  _ It was just a mixture of who she is and what the chicken said, _ he mused, unaware that Kyoko and the chicken were one and the same.

Natsuko's tongue flicked across Lory's cheek, reminding him to ask, "When can I expect them to arrive?"

"They said last night that they'd be here in three days, so… two days, now."

Lory rolled his eyes and began petting his precious snake. "As expected of them."

Ren steeled himself, then informed his godfather, "I've decided to tell Kyoko."

"Good. She'll be happy to see her 'father' again." Natsuko hissed her approval of Lory's stroking.

"No - I mean -" Ren cleared his throat. "I - I'm going to  _ tell _ her. About Kuon, about Mom and Dad, about… about the past. I want to be the one to tell her, rather than having her find out some other way. She might never speak to me again - she might hate me, but I need her… I need her to hear it from me."

Lory linked his fingers together and rested his chin on them, observing Ren for a few moments before speaking. "I'm proud of you, Kuon."

"Thank you, president." He ducked his head.

"Also, I think that by now, it's pretty much impossible for her to hate you, regardless of what you do, so don't worry about that." Natsuko nodded, giving Ren a serpentine smile.

"I hope you're right."

"I have information from a reliable source, so no worries." The elder man grinned. "Just try to make sure she doesn't misinterpret what you say. Now scram, you brat."

Ren laughed. "Thanks." He walked towards the door, then paused. "By the way, boss… do you know of any American anime that uses 'boop' as a code word?"

As soon as these words had left his mouth, the snake on Lory's shoulders gave a violent spasm of excitement and began hissing in Lory's ear. The president of LME, of course, under-reacted to such odd phenomena, merely raising his eyebrows and nodding instead of jumping, startling, or doing anything a sane person might do if her or his shoulder snake suddenly spasmed (ah, abounding alliteration (and assonance), an authoress's adoration amasses about thee). As the snake's speech (as Lory is Lory and therefore has both the technology and love necessary to understand an anaconda) continued, however, a grin began to slide across his face.

"That, my boy, would be something called  _ RWBY _ ."

"Ruby? The gemstone?"

"Nope - R-W-B-Y. Honestly, you should know these things; it's going to be a drama soon. I suggest that you watch it tonight once you're off work - it shouldn't take long - and then I think that you'd find the second season's soundtrack particularly enjoyable.  _ I _ did." With another Cheshire grin (despite being coal and not a cat that particular day) and a lofty wave of his hand, the president dismissed Japan's top actor.

Ren sighed, wondering if he really  _ wanted _ to know what 'boop' meant if it made his godfather grin like that.

Kyoko stared at Chiori with an expression of horrified disbelief; Chiori observed her LoveME sempai with concerned curiosity; and Kanae watched the pair with detached amusement. (The reader should take a moment here to remember what horrible truth of photographic treachery has just been revealed for the previous sentence to make any semblance of sense.) Then, like the crust on an over-baked pie, Kyoko crumbled to the ground.

"B-But  _ why? _ " She gave a hiccup. "Why would photographer-san do such a horrible thing with the royal portraits?"

"Royal portraits?" Chiori mouthed to Kanae, who shook her head.

"Simple," she said instead, squatting down next to her best friend. "He did it for the money. I mean, Tsuruga used his name to reserve the time, right? And it's not like you ever hear anything about his personal life in the media - especially not anything so freaking romantic. There's no way anyone would let such a good opportunity slip through their fingers."

Let it be a point to Kyoko's credit that she did not protest the word 'romantic.' "I… I suppose…."

"Wait," Chiori interrupted, shaking her head and holding up her hands. "I am misunderstanding something, or was the girl  _ you _ , sempai?" When Kyoko nodded, Chiori let out a low whistle. "I didn't even recognize you in that get-up!"

Something dull thudded in Kyoko's stomach. "You didn't?"

"No! You look so different, miss eternal butterfly." She rummaged in her bag and extracted a magazine, flipping to the main story. "I mean - just  _ look! _ I don't think that you have to worry about being recognized. Right now people just know you as Tsuruga-san's mystery princess."

"Oh fluffernutters…." Kyoko breathed, staring at the pictures.  _ Those are so intimate! How did I not panic? Even la-la land narcotics aren't that strong… wait… that mirror…!  _ "Why is the magic mirror in here? That wasn't even part of the shoot!"

Kanae, who had been looking at the picture of Kyoko looking at Ren upside-down as he kissed her nose (for she had been, at that point, standing in front of him), shifted her gaze to the mirror photograph. In it, Ren had his arms looped around Kyoko's waist from behind; he was beaming at her in the mirror as she looked off to the side, a blush powdering her cheeks. "What the…?"

"H-He had me say the spell like Snow White's stepmother, but it didn't work, and then he was saying that it  _ did _ , and -"

"Actually, just stop there." Kanae touching her hand to Kyoko's mouth again. "I get it."

"Just for clarification, sempai," Chiori inquired as she turned the page to reveal more photographs and the text of the article, "how long have you two been dating? You and Tsuruga-san, I mean. It's pretty obvious that you two are mad about each other, even without these pictures."

"We're  _ not _ ! I mean, I think that was one, but I don't know, not really, and - um…."

The stuttering girl's best friend had ceased to listen. "Hey, this one's not from the portrait place, either. Looks like it was shot through the windshield of his car."

"Yeah, it does - d'you think they followed her?" Chiori inquired; Kyoko gave a small whimper. "What were you two talking about to get that expression, Kyoko-sempai?"

"He… we… um, the kingdoms in the faerie realm…  _ C-Cor Meum _ and  _ Cor Tuum. _ "

Chiori furrowed her brow, tilting her head to the side. " _ Cor _ … isn't that Latin for 'heart'?"

Kyoko's head snapped up as Kanae nodded, realizing. "Yeah - so, 'my heart' and 'your heart,' right? Mo, he's cheesy."

"I know. It's something straight out of a shojo manga - and a sappy one, at that." She rolled her eyes. "Oh - b-but in a good way! Sorry, sempai."

"Wait, kingdoms?" Kanae quirked an eyebrow. "Don't tell me that he had you as the ruler of his heart."

"He crowned me, actually." Kyoko blinked.  _ I told him that he could watch over the other kingdom - that he could watch over my heart. And he… he said that I had supreme reign over his heart. _ "I-I didn't realize at… at the time what it meant."

"Of course you didn't. You wouldn't be our Kyoko-sempai if you had!" Chiori grinned. "I never knew that he was such a romantic. Seriously, look at this set - it looks like something right out of a fairytale." She pointed at the background of the picture where Ren was holding Kyoko as she leaned over an artificial stream, playing with the water faeries. Kyoko - who was of course by this time a beautiful sunset red and clashing spectacularly with her LoveME uniform - made attempts to close the magazine, but her two comrades in pink did not allow that to happen.

"What's up with this one? It's just you two holding hands." Kanae tilted her head to one side.

Kyoko shook her head, eyes closed. "No…."

"Oh, wait, I think I get it! Like an engagement pic, right?" Chiori grinned when Kyoko's sunset grew darker. "So your characters were engaged? That makes sense, I guess, with the royal getups."

The girl in question let out a cry of despair, snatched the magazine from the others' hands, and hid in a corner of the room. Kanae and Chiori exchanged a glance, inquiring silently what they ought to do now.

Kyoko, meanwhile, was mulling over everything in her mind - and, of course, twisting it in ways so that she blamed herself for the news getting out. (The authoress would like the readers to note that the photographer stuttered as much as a certain turbaned professor, but mentioning that fact to Kyoko would only add to her despair and I-ought-to-have-known thinking.)  _ I should never have accepted his offer. This is going to hurt his career! A huge percentage of his fan base is female… what are they going to do when they see him out and about with another girl? This is all my fault….  _ A slamming sound interrupted her self-deprecating monologue; the door burst open to reveal a highly irritated Maria.

"Onee-san, why didn't you  _ tell _ me you and Ren-sama were official?"

Ren was trying his best to drive the speed limit, but the driver in front of him was making this task difficult, as the humanoid in question was driving approximately fifteen miles per hour. He let out a low growl; Yashiro shifted in the passenger seat, thinking about how best to phrase his question.

"Ren, do you mind my asking you something?"

"No." His gritted teeth suggested otherwise, but Yashiro went on regardless.

"Why haven't you tried passing in the open lane to our right?"

"...Because I am an idiot," he sighed, then pulled around the slow-moving vehicle and increased his speed.

"Too busy thinking about the new predicament?"

A bark of a laugh escaped Ren's lips. "Which one?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do  _ you _ mean?"  _ If he doesn't know the full extent, then I'm not going to give him more information just yet. _

"Well, I doubt that Kyoko-chan will react well to the new publicity. I thought you were worrying about how you were going to coax her out of the tizzy she's likely to have worked herself into by the next time you see or speak to her." He adjusted his glasses, which had been traitorously slipping down his nose. "Knowing her, Kyoko-chan is going to find some way to blame herself for this mess."

"True," he sighed, pulling into the studio's parking structure. "At least her name didn't get spread everywhere."

Yashiro nodded. "I'd hate to see what your fans would do to her."

"What?" Ren's brow furrowed as he pulled into a parking hole.

"You have some crazy fans, my friend. I'm afraid that they might hurt her if they thought she was stealing you away." After glancing at Ren, he added, "And judging by your expression, I'm guessing that this hadn't occurred to you before now."

The actor shook his head as he clambered out of his car. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm doing the best damage control I can, LME isn't answering any questions - and you need to figure out with Kyoko-chan what you're going to tell the public when an interview becomes unavoidable. Speaking of which," he noted, flipping through their schedule, "you've got the one that was supposed to be on the day of your date re-scheduled for tomorrow morning, so think quickly about how you're going to deal with that."

"Right," he said, feeling a bit dizzy as they began walking to the new set. "I'll talk to Kyoko-chan tonight. That should give me a reason to invite her over."

"Sorry, but having her over will have to be tomorrow night - both of you are working late tonight. You've got that meeting with your new director and she's got some on-location scenes for "Box 'R'" at a haunted house."

"How do you know this?"  _ And why do you know it before I do? _

"I've been managing both of you for a while now to make sure you eat occasionally. Do try to keep up, Ren." He pushed the button of the elevator with his elbow, not wanting to risk the button's destruction by his hands. "You'll probably have enough time to call her, though."

"Right." Ren exhaled, pushing his fingers through his hair, suddenly very tired.  _ Maybe I'll flip through those pictures of Kyoko again on my break to get my energy back up. That ought to help, even if pictures were what started this whole fiasco. _ "I'll do that, then."

"Maria-chan, you've got to believe me! We're not official! Those pictures were from the day I told you about!" Kyoko begged her little sister, eyes wide and pleading.

"You were taking royal portraits together! How is that  _ not _ official?" Maria wailed, hurt by the omission. "You of all people know what it means when faerie rulers take portraits, onee-san!"

"I - it wasn't like that! That's only if both parties know the implications of the portraits! Besides, it's not like  _ that _ would ever happen!"

Chiori glanced at Kanae, saw that the second LoveME member looked equally confused, and then jerked her head towards the door, indicating that the two of them ought to try to escape. Kanae nodded, but motioned that they would need to move with extreme caution. Chiori, after taking a moment to decipher Kanae's obscure hand gestures, nodded.

" _ Onee-san _ ," Maria grated. "That's a lie and you know it! If you're taking Ren-sama away from me, at least be honest about it!"

"But - I - I'm not! I'm not taking Ren anywhere!" She was gesturing wildly; one of her flailing hands came within inches of smacking Chiori's nose as the second and third LoveME members slunk along the wall in their poorly-planned escape attempt. "He's much too big for me to carry anywhere!"

Maria paused for a moment, considering this. "Okay, fair enough. Ren-sama's shoes are enormous. He doesn't even fit in ordinary house slippers!"

While Kanae was able to hide her amusement, Chiori let out a highly undignified snort. Kyoko, noticing their new position near the door, raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"

Kanae shot a glare at the third LoveME member before improvising. "We were going to get some coffee from the vending machine. Do you want anything?"

"Milk, please!" Maria chimed, temporarily distracted. "The pink can with white polka dots!"

"Is there really that much difference between that and other types of vending machine milk?" Chiori inquired, confused.

" _ Yes _ ," Kyoko and Maria harmonized, slightly insulted.

"That one's richer than the others!" Maria insisted.

"And much cheaper than the others!" Kyoko added. "So it's really much better than the other types. I'd like one, too, please, Moko."

"Mo, whatever. Two pink-and-white milks. We'll be back in a bit." With that, the second and third LoveME members departed, shutting the door behind them.

Kyoko blinked. "What were we talking about?"

"Um… Ren-sama! We were talking about how you and Ren-sama are finally,  _ finally _ official after being coo-coo-clock crazy for each other since  _ Dark Moon _ !"

"What? No!"  _ How did she know that that was when I was stupid enough to begin to fall? _

"Yeah!" Maria nodded. "Cuz that was when Ren-sama started looking at you all soft-eyed when he thought that no one was looking."

"He - what?" She blinked. Sure, Moko had said something to the same effect, but for Maria to agree with her…!

"Well, it wasn't toooo obvious at first, but then Grandpa accidentally let a little something slip. I didn't like it at first, but I think that you're a better match for him than I would be, so I'm fine with it now."

"Then why did you yell at me?" Kyoko pouted.

"Because you didn't trust me enough to tell me that you're official!"

"But we're  _ not! _ There's no way I'd have a chance with him, Maria-chan!"

"Then how do you explain your date? He spoiled you way too much for it to be just as friends!"

"I  _ don't know _ , okay?" Kyoko cried out, pushing her hands through her hair in frustration. "It doesn't make any sense to me! I just - how can I be so  _ foolish _ ?"

Maria's voice was suddenly small, wary. "Huh?"  _ I've gone too far, haven't I? _

"I've only just gotten back to the point where I can love myself, love my friends, even love something of a family - how can I be so stupid to go and fall in love again? Why don't I learn not to - why can't I seem to get it through to my heart that romantic love only ends in heartbreak, in being left alone  _ again? _ " She let out a low whimper. "I'm just so confused, Maria-chan."

"Um…" Maria paused, understandably flustered. No matter how mature she might act, she was still in primary school. This situation was way beyond her area of expertise. "B-But you won't be left alone. We're all still here-"

"Milk delivery!" The door swung open, revealing a deadpan Kanae and a still-snickering Chiori. Kyoko's head whipped up to look at them, but then had no reaction when Chiori balanced the can of milk on her head.

"See? We'll be here no matter what," Maria said, glad to have proven her point. "Right, Moko?"

Kanae rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her coffee. "Duh."

"Yup!" Chiori affirmed around further laughter.

Kyoko laughed, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes but not falling (even if the milk can on her head did). "Thanks."

"Yes, thank you for the milk!"

"That's not what - oh, never mind." Kyoko beamed at her friends and little sister as she picked up her can of milk. "Itadaki-milk-su!"

Kanae whapped her with the nearest LoveME sofa parasite.

Ren, exhausted from dodging questions about the photographs in the media (honestly, how had  _ everyone _ already seen them?), collapsed in his dressing room. The director had called for a fifteen-minute break after several rough hours of filming - rough due to the focus on things other than work, of course. Thus, Japan's top male actor was more than happy to escape everyone else's presence for a little while. He couldn't call Kyoko, of course - she was no doubt buried in work by now (over at LME, Kyoko would be dealing with a hyperactive kitten and its finicky owner for the remainder of the morning) - so he resorted to the next best option: the photographs of Kyoko that Kotonami-san had sent to him the previous night.

_ I wish I could see her now. I wonder what she's doing. _ (At the moment, Kyoko was struggling to keep a kitten from crawling down the front of her LoveME uniform.)

_ Or even just hear her voice.  _ ("Stop - no - kitty,  _ please _ no!")

He sighed and clicked the button that would reveal the pictures of Kyoko. As he flipped through them, his stress began to melt away. A smile slipped across his face at her variety of expressions - she never seemed to make the same one twice. The pictures flicked through his vision, burning into his eyes and heart; he reached the final one of his beloved cuddled up to her best friend and made to close his phone.

... _ Wait. What was that? _

His brow furrowed as he flipped back to the popcorn-puppy-eyes picture. Something was nagging at the corners of his mind, almost as if he was missing something important, something vital, something - he squinted at the background, trying his hardest not to be distracted by Kyoko's expression. If he zoomed in a little, he could almost make out the image on the screen behind her… why did it look so familiar? He blinked and zoomed in more as a knock sounded on his door. Yashiro entered the room, announced that Ren's break was up, and wisely did not ask why the actor appeared to be as dazed as if he'd been knocked on the head by the club of a mountain troll.

_ She knows. _

Several hours later, Kyoko unleashed a great sigh of relief when she was finally able to part ways with the adorable but admittedly insane kitten and its overbearing master. She loved animals, true, but even she had her limits. A quick glance at the clock informed her that she had just enough time to transform into Natsu before pedaling to the studio, from where they would ride a company bus to the shoot location - today, a haunted house. Deciding to slip into character a bit early, she closed her eyes, shifted her stance, and slipped into the Kyoko meeting room.

_ You're up, Nacchan. Try not to offend anyone important to me, okay? _

Natsu slipped into the metaphorical pilot's seat and made the body smirk.  _ No promises… not that you expected anything less of me, dearest mystery girl. _

_ Nacchan, don't. Don't tease me about that now. We've got to get ready for work. _

_ Fine, fine. To the LoveME room to change, then. This uniform offends every sense I have. _

_ I'm not a fan, either, but it's something we've got to deal with. _

Natsu sighed, straightened, and sashayed down to the LoveME room to change. She passed Sawara on the way there, to whom she gave a greeting and a dignified bow; when she continued her journey, he paused for a moment, attempting to place what was so different about her – only to decide that the girl was calm, for once, before continuing his journey.

A ringing noise filled the hallway for what must have been the twelfth time since she had parted ways with Kanae and Chiori. After a quick glance at the caller ID, Natsu smirked and continued walking.  _ A call for you, boss, from Mr. Unknown Number. Do I get to play with him? I'm sure I could bring him to the brink of tears with - oh, I don't know - five sentences. What do you think? _

Inside the Kyoko meeting room, the grudges let out a cheer and began begging the boss Kyoko to let Natsu destroy that bastard. Kyoko sighed.  _ No, Nacchan. We still don't have that information, for the loophole you pointed out, so we have to wait. _

_ Fine. _ Natsu pouted and pushed open the door to the LoveME room. "Ah, Yumika. Are you ready to go?"

Chiori looked up from her desk, blinking. Her LoveME sempai didn't usually switch this early. "Just let me change out of this monstrosity."

"Obviously," the other girl replied with a laugh, already unzipping as she strolled to the locker rooms. "As if we'd ever let ourselves be seen in such things!"

A laugh escaped from Chiori's lips as she transitioned to Yumika. Natsu was in peak form today - this was going to be  _ fun _ . "Any plans for the haunted house, Nastu?" The gleam in her eyes was all the answer Chiori needed. Today would be a fun day indeed.

Kyoko's phone went off again; it was ignored as the girls got ready and Natsu regaled Yumika with plans of cruelty.

~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~~

Shotaro let out a low growl as he slouched down a hallway. He had seen it - of course he had, it was all over the media - but unlike the rest, he knew all too well who the mystery girl was. Who else could it be, to indulge in such fantasies at this age - and, though he was loath to even think it, for whom else would Tsuruga do such a thing? The girl had to be Kyoko; there was just no other option. And to think that she'd agreed to this after making the promise to him…! He had her, he knew - now if he could only get ahold of her to cash in on it…if only she would pick up her phone!

"Damn it, Kyoko, pick up! If you're going to do something that blatant, at least be willing to own up to it!" He hit 'end call' with unwonted venom before hearing a noise at the end of the hall; he glanced up and gave a lazy grin. Two rather attractive girls stood at the end of the hallway, both in high school uniforms - and one of them was staring straight at him. He strolled towards them, taking his time; they neither advanced nor retreated. The girl who had been observing him said something to her friend in a low voice, never dropping eye contact with Sho. He smirked; she quirked an eyebrow.

"What brings a pair of girls like you to a place like this?"

"Work," the girl's friend said idly, examining her nails. She glanced up at her friend, who motioned for her to continue. "We're waiting for the rest of the cast to finish getting ready so we can leave."

"Oh? Where to?" He leaned against the wall next to the silent girl, striking a pose that said girl had seen only too many times before. "The karaoke box? The shopping mall? A school?"

The dark-haired girl glanced at her friend again, as if looking for permission; the silent girl ran a highly decorated nail down her own cheek as she nodded. The dark-haired girl smirked. "No, that's far too dull. We're going someplace far more interesting." She gave a fiendish little giggle. "Perhaps you'd make a good one - what do you think, Natsu?"

Natsu took her time answering, making a show of observing Shotaro, scraping her lips with her butterfly-decked fingernails. When she spoke, it was with a slow deliberateness. "No, I don't think so. He doesn't look like he'd be entertaining - but we could give him a chance if you want to try level six, Yumika. I'd like to see  _ anyone _ react to that."

Sho furrowed his brow, confused and a bit insulted - but there was something else. He'd thought for a moment when he first locked eyes with her that she might be Kyoko - after all, golden eyes are rare - but this dynamic of command and response was the opposite of his childhood friend. Still, she was similar… "What do you mean? I'm sure that I can  _ entertain _ you."

Natsu snorted. "That's what they all say, Sho." Inside the Kyoko meeting room, Kyoko let out a wail of despair (but not a whale, as Plagioclase was snoozing in Ren's apartment).  _ Nacchan, no! Now we have to talk to him! _ Natsu merely smiled -  _ Oops. _

Sho's manner shifted immediately; he knew that voice. "Kyoko."

"Wrong." Natsu glanced at Yumika, who had spoken, and smiled. "This is Kitagawa Natsu. If you forget that, you will sorely regret it."

Natsu locked eyes with Sho, daring him to make a scene, to slip out of his public persona in front of Chiori. "No, no – I've got time, tell me more. What business do you have with this 'Kyoko'?"

"I've come to collect on what she promised me," he replied, choosing his words as carefully as he could. He would not lose his cool in front of this cute, slightly rude girl - and especially not in front of Kyoko, not again.

"Oh, you mean that little promise about her not falling in love with Tsuruga Ren?" Nastu inquired, still smiling. "You can't collect on that."

"Yeah, I can - or are you going to try to tell me that that wasn't you in those pictures?" He could feel his temper rising; but he  _ would not _ be the first one to get riled up.

"No, I don't think I'll waste my time on anything so pointless."

Chiori, confused by the going-ons, attempted to intervene. "Yes, let's not waste our time on such a slug, Natsu. We can go find Kaori."

Natsu simply held up a hand to Chiori before continuing. "No, I'm not going to bother talking about those images in that silly little gossip rag. I just wanted you to know that your little promise is completely invalid."

"How the hell is that-?" Sho began, only to be cut off by Natsu's fingers on his lips.

"The promise was that Kyoko wouldn't fall in love with Tsuruga Ren." She leaned in closer to him and spoke in a whisper. "Your promise is invalid because Kyoko never knew that gentleman, that perfect man."

"What do you mean, you never knew him?" Sho spat, wrenching back from Natsu's fingers. "You hang off of him every chance you get!"

"Aww…" Natsu tilted her head to one side, pitying him mockingly as she continued, "you're stupid."

Japan's top male singer bristled. "What did you say?"

"You're just a perfect little idiot," Natsu laughed. "That man - that Tsuruga Ren, the perfect gentleman? He never has and never will exist in that girl's heart. Your promise was only for her to not fall in love with 'Tsuruga Ren'; you forgot to close the loophole. She's free of you forever."

A voice sounded down the hallway, calling to the girls that everyone else was ready. Natsu linked arms with Yumika before glancing back over her shoulder at Shotaro, locking eyes with him one last time and tossing him a smirk.

"You had your chance. See you around… _ Shotaro _ ."

When the two girls reached the end of the hall, Chiori turned back to the silently enraged Shotaro and stuck her tongue out at him. Natsu's trilling laughter grated in the singer's ears as the  _ Box 'R' _ troupe left for the haunted house.

_ What the hell does that mean, Kyoko? _ He punched the wall, only to wince from the pain in his hand.  _ Damn you, Kyoko…'free'? Never. _ Her trilling laughter echoed in his head, her smirk plastered itself across the inside of his eyelids.  _ I…I want pudding again. Why can't I do anything right to get that back? What do I have to do, Kyoko? Is there anything I can do, to keep you from him, to have you as mine again? _

(For the record, Plagioclase awoke momentarily in Ren's apartment to say one word: "Nope." He then returned to his dreams of love stories.)

On the bus to the new location (after Kyoko's and Chiori's bikes had been affixed to the bike rack), Kaori glanced at a humming Natsu. "Find a new target?"

"No, even better," she replied. "I settled an old score."

"Do tell."

Natsu simply shook her head before allowing a bit of Kyoko to leak through in a quote. "I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now."

"…Did you just-?"

"It's a good line; it deserves to be used." She glanced down at her nails before holding them up for inspection. "I got my nails done a couple days ago."

"Ooh, nice. Where did you go?" Kaori inquired.

"Ahh…" Natsu smirked, tapping a nail against her lips, "That would be Telling."

**AND CUT!**

**Also, out of curiosity - would anyone be interested in seeing my notes for this fic (well, chapter 18 on, since I didn't think of this until recently) after it's done? I could just post them as an extra thing at the end.**

**Please drop me a review~! And feel free to pester me if I take too long again. (And please forgive typos in this chapter due to computer problems.)**


	9. How Can the Threads Begin to Converge?

**Enjoy the chapter! I don't own anything you recognize. Please also forgive typos and the like, as my brain is all fogged up with asthma. :D**

Kaori raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, that would be telling? Into riddles now, are we?"

Natsu clucked, waving a finger back and forth. "I meant exactly what I said. It's not so much a riddle as it is a pun."

"You never seemed to be much of a punster to me, Natsu," Tsumugi chimed in as she and Yumika leaned over the back of their seats on the bus to join the conversation.

"You should know by now that I enjoy anything entertaining." She smirked, then stood and called to her minions with a wink as the bus trundled to a stop outside of their location. "Come on, girls - we've got some  _ haunting _ to do."

Rumi shivered at the look on Natsu's face. She knew that they were just acting, but the way Kyoko acted Natsu against her Chitose seemed far too real; despite knowing that the girl behind the character was sweet, her eyes - those golden eyes, so often filled with an amused malice during the shoots - terrified the idol. Yes, the real girl meant no harm - but Rumi often questioned just which one was real.

"Chitose-chaaaan," Natsu drawled from the threshold of the bus, "are you coming? We've only got this place for a little while, you knooow? We want plenty of time to  _ play _ , don't we?"

"Y-Yes!" she squeaked.  _ Why did she have to switch to Natsu early today? She usually waits a little longer before getting into character. _

Natsu smirked. "Come  _ on, _ then. Everyone's waiting."

After hesitating a moment longer, Rumi stood and followed the taller girl out of the bus. The director said a few words - mostly to the effect of 'please don't hurt her' - before sending his cast and crew towards the haunted house. Natsu winked at her darlings (her favorite minions, that is) as the cameras began rolling. She then smiled at Rumi, a tiger lily grin.

"Chitose-chan, do you want to go through it with me? I'm sure you'd be less frightened than if you were on your own."

"It… It's fine, Natsu-san! I-I'll be okay!"  _ So. Much. Improvisation. _

"But there are so many ghosts around here… and goblins… gobbledygooks… vampires… werewolves… maybe even a zombie or two. I thought you hated that kind of thing, Chi-to-se-chan." Natsu walked her nails up the back of Rumi's neck as she spoke the character's name. Kyoko wondered if perhaps that wasn't a bit overkill. "But if you're fine on your own, then no worries! I'm sure that you can handle going through the dark, oozing rooms allllll alone." Having said this, she turned and opened the door; a ghostly wail (not whale, as Plagioclase was and is very much alive) resounded.

Rumi quivered and shifted more fully into Chitose. "N-Natsu-san! Wait!"

The bully turned around, slowly; the darkness framed her, causing her skin and hair to have a dull glow and revealing a fiery spark in her golden eyes. A cameraman noted that he had a good shot of the scene; in fact, he had such a good angle that he could almost see something materializing behind the girl. "Yes?"

"I-I'll walk with you! These things are better together, right?" She attempted to smile and skipped up to join Natsu.

_ Can we scare her yet, Mama? _ the grudges inquired; Kyoko instructed them to be present, but to wait for Natsu's signal to fully manifest. For a split second, Natsu's grin mirrored that of the grudges; a camera caught this before she smoothed her expression. "Super," she purred, linking their arms, "then let's go."

Elsewhere in the haunted house, Yumika, Kaori, and Tsumugi were prepping their portion of the attack. They had been a bit surprised when Natsu had elected to take the forward role instead of waiting at the end, but the change was a pleasant one - one that allowed for a wider variety. After all, nothing was more entertaining than switching things up every once in a while.

"Natsu's in a good mood today," Kaori commented as she zipped up the back of Tsumugi's costume.

"Yeah, cuz Chitose's such an entertaining target," Tsumugi said, her voice a bit muffled. "You know that she's happy whenever she finds something to take her mind off her boredom."

Yumika giggled; the sound was a bit hollow - or perhaps that was just the effect given by her ghostly appearance. "She mentioned earlier that she wanted to see level six. What say you we give her a show?"

Kaori and Tsumugi exchanged a glance; smirks grew across their faces. "Level six it is, then," Kaori breathed. "Have at it, Yumika… just don't take it to level eight. I doubt even Natsu would find being jailed for murder interesting." The cameramen in charge of these three girls shivered collectively.

" _ Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"  _ Chitose shrieked, gripping Natsu's arm. "S-Something grabbed me!"

_ Good job,  _ Kyoko told her grudges. Natsu dragged one of her nails along the wall, creating a terrible sound, and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Chitose-chan. You must be imagining things."

"Th-That sound! It's coming for me!" At this point, the line between Chitose and Rumi was very thin. "Natsu-san, help!"

"Shush," Natsu whispered, "if there  _ is _ anything here, I'm sure it could hear you. You should be quiet."

Rumi let out a frightened whimper and clamped her hands over her mouth, only to shriek when something scratched against the back of her neck. Natsu pulled her hand back before the frightened girl could turn around. "S-Something's there!"

"You're imagining things," Natsu said lightly, amusement shining out of her eyes. In the Kyoko meeting room, the boss Kyoko sighed; Nacchan, as ever, was going above and beyond what they had planned.  _ If you're not careful, her mind might snap. Ease up a bit, Nacchan. _

Natsu smirked.  _ I won't give her much of anything she can't handle. I never said we'd be going to level seven. _

_ Nacchan. _

_ Fine, fine. Killjoy. _ Her nail found the wall again; its sound was echoed by a ghostly wail. Chitose, on the brink of tears, clutched Natsu's arm even tighter as a figure moved in the shadows. Something wet landed on Natsu's hand.

"Hmm…" She examined it for a moment before smirking. "Look, Chi-chan."

Chitose whimpered but obeyed; all color drained from her face. "Is… Is that…?"

Natsu smelled the liquid before licking a drop of it.  _ Food coloring. _ "Blood, yes. I wonder whose it is… it's fresh, after all, and came from the ceiling. Maybe if we look up, we'll see some poor soul chained and staked? Or maybe nailed? What do you think, Chitose-chan?"

A devilish giggle drove any possible answers from the terrified Rumi's mind. The giggling eventually petered out, only to be replaced by a voice. " _ Come, come, my lovely… we've not had a new one in ages and ages. You'll make a fine specimen, fine indeed. Kyeh… heh… hyeh…. _ "

_ Good, Yumika.  _ "What's the matter, Chitose? You stopped walking."

"Th-That voice… don't you hear it?"  _ Am I imagining things? _

"Voice?" Natsu tilted her head, letting a bit of Kyoko shine through to be a picture of wide-eyed innocence. "I don't hear anything, Chi-to-se-chan." With the last word, she let any light in her eyes die; she dragged a nail down the girl's cheek, letting the food coloring blood leave a red streak. When she next spoke, her voice was naught but a rasp; spirits flew up behind her, cackling and crooning about all the ways to mince someone. " _ Anything _ ."

"N-Natsu-san?"  _ Please let her be acting, please let her be acting, I don't want to die, I don't want to die…. _

Natsu straightened, smiling. "Yes, Chitose-chan?"

"W-What did you just -?"

Her brow furrowed. "What are you talking about? You're the one who randomly stopped walking."

"B-But you just-!"  _ I don't want to die, please let her just be acting…. _

"You must be hallucinating from fright, you poor thing," she crooned, amusement coloring her cheeks a high pink. "Come on, let's keep going. The sooner we get going, the sooner you can go sit down."

"R-Right." She bit her lip.  _ Was I imagining things? _

**Crack.**

The wall to Chitose's right fractured; a figure lurched out, a mottled hand reaching for her - it grasped at her hair, causing the dead particles to flutter against the girl's cheek. She gave no reaction for almost a full thirty seconds. … _ No, definitely  _ not  _ imagining things. _

Rumi let out an unearthly shriek and bolted for the exit, leaving Natsu and the costumed figure behind.

"Good work, Tsumugi."

"Huh?" Tsumugi poked her head out from behind the wall. "I was in charge of the blood, remember?"

"Kaori, then."

"I was the voice, Natsu."

"Yumika."  _ Very funny, girls. _

"Uh… no. I did all the scratching sounds."

With a sigh, Natsu signaled for the figure to turn around; it obeyed. One obnoxiously loud zipping sound later, a distinctly masculine figure was revealed. Natsu tapped a finger against her lips before pushing the costume head off of the boy's face; a smirk played across her own as laughter lit her eyes. She leaned up to the him, running her nails down his face and all but purring to him.

"Aka-kun… I'm glad to see you decided to come play with me."

"And CUT!" the director called; Kyoko, finally regaining the pilot's seat, stumbled a bit against the boy. Aka-kun - Chitose's boyfriend in the show, the one with whom Kyoko had shot the seduction scene on the last day of her bad month - blinked several times, surprised, as he steadied her.

"You handled that really well, Kyoko-san. People usually get freaked out when that kind of improv has to happen." He was talking quickly, almost as if her very presence made him nervous.

"Thank you, Nakanishi-san. I'm fine now, if you would please let me go."

"R-Right! Sorry about that," he fumbled, releasing her.

"And another helpless sap falls to the charms of Kyoko-san," Chiori whispered, giggling.

"Huh?" Yuka - Tsumugi - blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Seriously, tell us!" Honami - Kaori - begged. "Come on, I've been dying for something juicy. What do you mean?"

Chiori smiled. "Oh, nothing - just that she has the biggest sap of a man in all of Japan wrapped around her little finger without her even realizing it, plus a few other unmentionables."

Before either girl could question this statement, the director called them over. "Girls," he said, "that was phenomenal. We only have a few little things to clean up, but we're going to take a break for a bit, first."

"To eat dinner?" Tsumugi inquired.

"Yes - and no. Rumi-chan's nerves need a little while to recover. It works with the plot, but any more and she might have had a mental breakdown." He scratched at his chin stubble. "I guess that's what I get for letting you loose on her. Oh, and Nakanishi - good job on that."

The group bowed their thanks to the director before retreating to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

**~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~**

"Surely you must have expected the media reaction to your doing something like this, my friend," Yashiro sighed as he froze the crowds around them with an icy glare, permitting the pair to maneuver into the V. I. P. bar for their meeting with Ren's new director.

"I didn't think I'd be recognized - and don't call me Shirley." … _ Even if you don't know my real name. _

"You must have had a good time. I don't recall the last time I heard you crack such a terrible joke." He squinted at his charge. "You did something to her, didn't you?"

Ren became the picture of innocence. "All I did was fulfill a promise… after all, something like that is an offer she can't refuse."

"Yeah, yeah. What I'm worried about is what happens now - after all, it's not often that we hear what comes later. The time following a fairy tail is rarely discussed."

"Au contraire;" Ren grinned, picking his way over to the bar where his new director sat, "at the end of every fairy tale, we hear that they lived happily ever after."

"You are such a sap."

"Yes, but I am a  _ happy _ sap." Ren sat down next to his director-to-be. "Good evening, Kishida-san."

Kishida Akane was a willowy, dark-haired woman with an iron reputation. She had clawed her way up from the bottom of the modeling world to the realms of the supermodels before breaking into the directing world. She beamed at him. "Come on, Ren-san, we've worked together enough for you to call me Akane."

He ducked his head; it was true - they'd done several jobs together prior to her debut as a director. "My apologies, Akane-san." The barkeep motioned to him; he gave a gentle wave of his hand, indicating that he would have his usual non-alcoholic drink (he would be driving, after all). "Are you excited about your silver screen debut?"

"Yup!" She giggled, already a bit pink-faced. "Are you ready to hear what it is?"

"Always," he replied, accepting his drink from the bartender and paying the man. "Thank you."

"How about you guess? It's an anime adaptation." She took a sip of her violently pink drink.

"Ah…" He bit his lip; he wasn't overly familiar with new anime. Beside him, Yashiro ordered a drink from the bartender. "I'm afraid I've got no idea."

"I didn't really expect you to, Mr. Number One Actor." Akane rolled her eyes, taking another sip. "Like you'd have time for anime with your busy schedule - and an American one, at that!"

Something pinged in Ren's mind; he took a sip of his drink before prompting, "An American anime?"

"Yup! I was abroad for a show and one of the girls got me hooked. I loved it so much that I pitched it to a friend of mine back here - got him hooked, and here I am." She locked eyes with him. "I'd like you to be in it, if you're interested. I'm not sure if Jaune would be a good fit, but maybe Ozpin or a certain Lie Ren would suit you."

"And this anime is…?"  _ The gods are laughing at me again, aren't they? _

"It's a little devil called  _ RWBY. _ Heard of it?"

"Yes, actually," he sighed. "I know nothing of it other than the name, though."

"I suspected as much." She nodded, pulling a DVD case out of her bag and handing it to him. "Here. That's got both seasons and soundtracks on it - in English, since it's not been fully translated yet, so good luck with that. Watch it as soon as you can and get back to me about who you want to be. Get back to me soon enough," she grinned, "and I'll let you pick, no competition. Oh, and if you know anyone who you think would be good for Nora or Ruby, let me know. I've got one spot open and an actress who could go either way."

"I'll keep my eyes open." He took the case from her, examining it. "Are the soundtracks important?"

"Very. They give you background about the world and characters." She giggled a bit here, taking another sip. "I  _ love _ the second season's soundtrack. It -" Her phone went off, interrupting her. "Sorry," she grimaced, turning away to answer the call.

"Go ahead." He took another sip of his drink; Yashiro, who was halfway through his own glass, nodded.

"Hey, Seiya. Yeah, I'm at the bar. Yes, it's work - geez, I'm hot, but I'm not loose." She rolled her eyes. "Oh? You are? Awesome. I'll try to get home earlier, then." A grin crept across her face. "See you soon. Yeah, love you too. Bye." She shut her phone and turned back to her potential hire. "So that's the gist of it. Are we good?"

Ren nodded. "I'll watch it tonight and get back to you as soon as I've decided."

"Coolios. That's about it, so I'm going to split - my boyfriend's back from France early. Catch ya later!" She paid her tab, waved, and began weaving her way out of the bar.

Ren glanced at Yashiro. "Anything else tonight?"

"Nope. I was planning on Akane-chan talking for a much longer time, like usual." He adjusted his glasses. "Just drop me off at home and you're free for the rest of the night."

Ren held up the  _ RWBY _ DVD. "Not quite."  _ Time to see what "Boop" is all about. _

**~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~**

The small family restaurant was packed with  _ Box 'R' _ cast and crew members, all of whom were enjoying their meals. Natsu's - and therefore Kyoko's - group had their own booth on one side of the room. Kyoko, of course, had ordered hamburg steak with fried egg on top, her favorite. Of course, now it had another happy memory linked to it….

"Earth to Kyoko-sempai," Chiori sang, waving her hand in front of the lightly red girl's face. "Your food's getting cold."

"Hrnnyeh?" Kyoko blinked, her spirit retreating from the forbidden portion of lala land - the danger ropes of which were fraying more with every passing day - and landing back in her physical body. "What?"

"Your food. It's getting cold."

"What? Oh, no!" Kyoko yelped, sounding enough like her usual self to draw a bit of attention among the other, non-cast beings - that is to say, the workers and other customers of the restaurant.

"Kyoko-chan?" A young man asked, turning around and leaning his chair back on two legs to get a better look at her. "Is that you?"

"Oh, Arata-kun! Hello!" Kyoko smiled and gave a small bow within the booth. "How strange to see you here! Are you well?"

"Yeah, I'm doing alright. Almost didn't recognize you, though!" He grinned at her, tongue running over his top teeth to dislodge a piece of noodle. "You?"

"Quite well, thank you. We're on a break from working, to eat dinner and give the main character a chance to gather herself again."

"Right, I keep forgetting that you're a big actress now." He nodded before grinning even wider. "I usually just see ya at taisho's place!"

"Um. Chiori-san -" Honami began, indicating the friendly pair with her chopsticks, "-what?"

Chiori shrugged. "I've never seen him before."

"Oh!" Kyoko exclaimed, cutting off whatever she had been saying. "Did you like it?"

"Like...what?" he queried, confused.

"The stir-fry! I was cooking for my friends the other day, so I couldn't come out and ask how you liked it. You know, the surprise you asked taisho for the other day."

"That was yours? It tasted as good as taisho's!" Arata exclaimed, his chair tilting dangerously. "So that's what okami-san meant by 'extra-special' surprise!"

Her cheeks colored. "N-No, don't be ridiculous! I mean, I'm glad that you enjoyed it, but there's no way that my cooking could be as good as taisho's! His is the best-best!"

He laughed, his chair wobbling. "Either way, it was good. But are you going to introduce me to your companions, or should I guess their names?"

Kyoko, flustered, turned back to her group. "I'm so sorry! That was rude of me." After introductions were made, she added, "We play the bully group in  _ Box 'R' _ ."

"Seriously? Wicked!"

Chiori snickered. "Yeah, wicked's probably a good word for it. No witches or flying monkeys, though."

"Aw, that's too bad."

The next twenty minutes or so passed much in this same vein, with much happy chatter and slurping of noodles, until the director called for his cast and crew to get ready to head back to set. Kyoko set down her chopsticks, closed her eyes, and switched back to the co-pilot's seat, letting Natsu take control. The change was obvious immediately to those around her, though there was one who did not understand what had just happened.

"Kyoko-chan? Are you alright?" Arata inquired, leaning even further back on his chair; the chair, protesting this abuse, crashed to the ground, taking Arata with it. "Owch…."

Natsu let out a soft giggle as she got to her feet and gave the boy a hand up. "Aw, poor Arata."

The others got to their feet, exchanging glances. With another quiet laugh (and much scolding from the boss Kyoko), Natsu dropped a kiss on the man's cheek before waving farewell. Chiori hung back for a moment. "Don't overthink it. She's Natsu again already. Anything entertaining… well, you get it. Ciao!"

With one last wave, Arata was left alone with his now-cold bowl of noodles and a brain full of questions.  _ What the…? _

Kaori exchanged a glance with Yuka, both girls now back in their characters. The latter shrugged; the former sped up a bit to keep pace with their leader. "New plaything, Natsu?"

The girl gave a careless little wave as they walked back to the haunted house. "Eh. He's not too important right now - I just wanted to see his reaction." With a sigh, she added, "He wasn't very entertaining."

Kaori nodded. "True. He just kind of stood there, blinking."

The leader gave a quick twirl, the skirt of her uniform flaring. "Let's get back to the  _ fun _ , shall we? I've got the feeling that something  _ interesting _ is going to happen."

Ah, if only Kyoko had been able to see the truth of her character's words - as they pertained to the next night, that was. As for that same night… well, the authoress suggests that the reader look to the next scene.

**~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~**

Ren sighed, slipping his shoes off but forgoing his house slippers; he preferred going barefoot when he was alone. The small case in his bag seemed to be a living thing, seeming to shift - this was because Plagioclase, sensing a hint of an actual plot amid fluff, had awoken and swum over to investigate and prod the odd rectangular container. This prodding had resulted in the shifting of the case, slight as it was (as Plagioclase, in this dimension, is naught more than a banana-sized spectre of an orca whale and therefore cannot significantly move physical objects), and Ren's subsequent removal of the case from his bag. He observed it for a few moments, debating whether he ought to first watch it or call Kyoko.

_Call Kyoko first,_ he decided. _I won't be able to focus on the show if I'm tied up in knots about calling her._ He glanced at his clock - she probably wouldn't be home yet, if what Yashiro had said about her filming late was true. _Well…_ _maybe a couple of episodes, then?_

Plagioclase nodded his approval, his entire body bobbing up and down in his efforts. Ren, unaware of the miniature orca floating at his elbow, wandered over to his DVD player and popped the first disc into the slot. The little whale nodded along to the Red trailer's music, familiar with it as he was; after all, Plagioclase is Plagioclase and is therefore familiar with somehow plot-significant series other than the one into which he has been most unceremoniously inserted.

Approximately an hour later, Ren found himself grinning at the screen. The length of the episodes, he had discovered, was usually less than fifteen - and often under ten - minutes long. Ths, he'd managed to watch not only the opening trailers, but also the first six episodes and meet his prospective characters - and both of the girls whom Akane had mentioned. He could see how an actress could go either way, as they had some similar characteristics - but one in particular stood out to him. Maybe that was because she had an obvious history with one of his potentials; Plagioclase knew that it was mostly due to another reason entirely.

Ren glanced at the clock again and picked up his phone.  _ Kyoko should be home by now, since Akane-san likes to meet later in the evening.  _ He paused the disc, resolving to make a final decision after watching the entire series and listening to both soundtracks.

As he scrolled down to her name, a sudden wave of nerves engulfed him.  _ Okay, you can do this, Kuon. You took her on an amazing date the other day and spoiled her rotten; you can ask her over for dinner. She'll probably be worrying about repayment or something foolish like that. Calm down. It's not like she'll hate you for asking her over… what you tell her might, but not just asking her over. She's used to that by now.  _ He dialed, waited, and then heard a soft click.

"Hello, Ren." He voice was soft; she must be going up the stairs to her room, he figured, and did not wish to wake her landlords. Landlords… he made a mental note of something else he had to do the next day.

"Good evening, Princess Kyoko. Did you just get home?" It was amazing, really; he'd been so nervous… she did wonders for his nerves, even if she was the cause as well as the cure most of the time.

Plagioclase let out a soft hum, nuzzling the paused outlines of the characters on-screen. A smile graced his whale face, creating odd images in the authoress's mind. The next few days would be worth noting in his book of favorite love tales (and tails, in some cases).

"Yes," she replied, her voice now a more normal tone; she had reached her bedroom. "We stopped for a late dinner mid-shoot to let Rumi-san recover. I'm afraid that we might have gone a little too far during the haunted house scenes. But she was okay for the second round of touch-up shots. She's quite professional when it gets down to it."

"I'm glad to hear it. Did you enjoy the shoot?" He chuckled; yes, there was definitely a second reason why one of the characters stood out to him more that the other.

"Natsu did, yes. As did some others who came out to help her a bit." Her grudges cooed happily, as they received head-pats from Mio. The rich young lady had approved of their actions immensely, enjoyed them even - something are for the scarred girl. "It was a really fun shoot!"

"I'm glad to hear it." He paused for a moment, before deciding that this might be the right time to mention it. "By the way… that American anime that Setsu watched…"

Kyoko let out a squeak.  _ Nonononononononono…. please, don't tell me he already knows -  _ "Yes?"

_ She's nervous... I thought she liked the show. _ "Did you know that it's being made into a drama?"

Kyoko's train of panic derailed. "Really?" she gasped into the receiver. "I-I hadn't heard anything about it! When does it air?"

"I don't know. Filming hasn't started yet; in fact, they're still working on casting." He paused for a moment, grinning at her obvious excitement. "I know the director - she was a modelling friend of mine before she started directing. I've been asked to play a character, and given an option as to who I want to play."

Kyoko let out a small groan of envy. "Oh, that sounds amazing, Ren!"

"Well, there is one thing I might not have mentioned yet…" He smiled, feeling a shift in her tone.

"Yes…?"  _ Are you hinting at what I think you're hinting? _

"Akane-san, the director, asked me to keep an eye open for anyone who could play either Ruby or Nora, as she's got one actress who could go either way and one spot open. I've been watching a bit of it - she lent me the series and soundtrack to familiarize myself with it - and cannot help but be forcibly reminded of someone whom I know quite well."

"Really? Who?"

He suppressed a laugh. "Well, she can be quite hyper, often drifts of into fantasy worlds, and has a certain fondness for scolding me to eat. Does she sound familiar to you?"

Kyoko considered for a moment. "Isn't Maria-chan a bit young to play either of them? I know that Ruby's skipped a couple years, but not that many."

"True, true. How about you, then?"

A pause echoed over the line. "Ren, it's not nice to tease someone about a potential audition."

"Oh, but I'm not. If you want to audition for it, I'll give Akane-san your information and have her put you on the list of hopefuls."

"Really?" she asked, a bit breathlessly.

"Really. She might even skip the audition if it gets close enough."

Several flailing sounds echoed over the line, followed by fervent thanks.

"I take it you're interested, then?"

"Yes! Of course I am! I'd absolutely love to play either of them!"

"It might even help you escape the bully type-casting."

She shook her head, a gesture he could not see. "I've not been in enough to get typecast, but it would still be wonderful to play a  _ good _ character for once. I doubt that either of them would ever go bad, even if the series isn't done yet!"

"It's not?" He furrowed his brows.

"No! Didn't you know? It's only got two seasons so far, even in American. There was…" her tone changed suddenly, from surprise to grief. "...there was a loss. Th-The creator of RWBY, the one who came up with it, the one who voiced Lie Ren… he… he had a bad reaction to something during a surgery. He passed away quite suddenly. Roosterteeth - the producers - decided to keep moving forward, eventually, to carry on in his memory. It was… an awful time for them, I'm sure."

"I'm sorry," he murmured, knowing that she was on the brink of tears. "I… I didn't know."

"Well, yes - no, it's fine. You've only just started it; there's no way you'd know." She cleared her throat, trying to distract herself. "Who are you going to be?"

"I've been offered either the role of Lie Ren or Professor Ozpin," he replied. "I've yet to decide who I want to be, though I must admit that I'm leaning towards Lie Ren. He seems to be a good fighter."

He could hear a soft note on the edge of her voice when she spoke. "I'm sure that you'd play an  _ amazing _ Ren. You moved so easily as Cain… you'd be able to handle the snakes without a problem, even when StormFlower gets knocked out of your hands."

"Thank you."  _ And from what I've seen… is it selfish of me to wish for you to play Nora if I choose to be Lie Ren? I know that Ruby would be better for your career, but…. _

"N-Not that you wouldn't play an equally amazing Ozpin!" she yelped, realizing what she'd said. "You're such an amazing actor that you can pull off anything! I'm sure you'd be fine no matter what!"

He laughed, letting the words escape before he could think about them. "I knew that there was a reason Nora reminded me of you."

She was grateful that he could not see her blush, given the implications of his words - but then, he probably hadn't listened to the song yet, had he? He was only on the first volume, from the sounds of it. "O-Oh?"

"In her monologue, when she's waking him up - she backtracks and clarifies a lot, like you tend to. It's quite cute."

Plagioclase hummed a happy note as Kyoko's blush deepened. "O-Oh..."

"Ah!" He exclaimed, having just remembered yet another thing for the next day - and was forcibly reminded that he had yet to invite her over. "That reminds me. I have an interview tomorrow. It was supposed to be just a regular one, but they'll probably ask about our date, since it's all over the media."

She swallowed. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize. That was a fun day." He smiled; she seemed to sense it, relaxing a bit in response. "All I wanted to know was what you would like me to say. This could have a greater effect on your career than on mine, after all, should they find out your identity."

"Well, aside from keeping my identity secret, if you wouldn't mind," she hesitated for a moment, mulling over the options in her mind. She didn't want to cause trouble any more than she wanted her success to be due to anyone else but herself.

"Naturally," he prompted.

"I… just use your best judgement. I… I trust you."

He laughed. "A horrible decision, really."

"I thought you said that you hadn't seen  _ Tangled _ !"

"I haven't; I just happened to come across that scene the other day. It was playing in one of the rooms at a studio."  _ It really is a terrible decision, though… I'm not sure that I even trust myself. _ "Don't worry, I didn't watch it without you."

"Good! You promised me, after all!"

He covered his smile with one hand, despite the fact that she could not see his face. Plagioclase swam through the air in gleeful loop-the-loops. Kyoko stifled a yawn, feeling oddly content.

His expression shifted, however, when he remembered what other thing he had to ask her. "One last thing before I let you get some rest, my sleepy beauty."

"Yes?" Let it be a testament to either her level of tiredness after a long day or to her recently growing confidence that she did not dispute the 'beauty' portion of his endearment - one of those, or maybe just its closeness to a princess story.

"Would you like to come over tomorrow evening?"

A dangerous proposition. "Pardon?"

"I would like to see you again soon - I was spoiled by your presence the other day - and Yashiro has been on my case about food  _ constantly. _ Would you mind terribly, princess, to come over and help me kill two birds with one stone?"

"Of course I wouldn't," she assured him. "I… I would love to. After all, you treated me so kindly the other day… it's the least I can do to repay you."

He let out a sigh, relieved that she'd reacted as expected. "I'm free from seven on, if that would work for you."

"I'm done around six thirty tomorrow," she informed him, checking her mental schedule, "so I can swing by the store to grab supplies before coming. I'm guessing you don't have anything in your fridge?"

"...Thank you," he replied, a bit guiltily. To his great pleasure, she laughed. He bade her a goodnight not long after, received one in return, and - as usual - waited to hear her hang up before shutting his own phone. Plagioclase settled onto the arm of the sofa as the human hit the play button, a smile on his lips and his eyes fixed on the screen.

**~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~**

Kyoko switched off her phone and set it next to her clothes for the next day. She stretched a bit, allowing her gaze to wander as she mulled the events of the past few days in her mind. To say that the events had been unexpected would be an understatement - and to similarly describe her reaction to them would be an even grosser one.

_ Why am I not panicking? _

She locked eyes with her Ren picture; his gaze seemed to inquire something of her, to beckon her over to the static image. Slowly, without standing, she made her way over to it.  _ Do you know? Do you know why I'm not panicking like I should be? _

The Ren-voice in her mind did not answer.

_ I know… I know that I have people who love me. Maria, Moko, taisho, okami-san, Chiori-san, my Ishibashi onii-sans, Father…. _ Here her mental list paused for a moment, before continuing,  _ Maybe even Yashiro-san and President Takarada, to an extent. And … my prince, the one who crowned me princess of his heart… and... _

She bit her lip, eyes still locked in the poster's gaze.

_...and me. I think that I might be on my way, at least, and that's a lot further than I was a week ago. _

The poster seemed to ask something else of her; she considered for a moment, then nodded - and without breaking the gaze, she reached over to the poster which hung next to his. She didn't even bother ripping it; she simply took it down, folded it up, and stood. She bowed, finally breaking the gaze, and then walked out of her room. When she returned, her hands were empty; the downstairs recycling bin had a new inhabitant. A marker, resting in her mug of writing utensils, called to her.

A smile graced her lips as she understood its suggestion; she followed its orders, capped the marker, and then switched off her light.

Her dreams had her dancing with the man on whose picture she had just drawn wings.

**~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~**

Approximately two hours, many episodes, and quite a few songs later, Ren - no,  _ Kuon _ \- was sitting, thunderstruck, on his couch. Plagioclase floated unnoticed in midair next to him; a smile played across his rounded face as the human hit the replay button for what must have been the eighth time, revealing to his disbelieving ears that their codes, while different, had really been quite the same.

"Does she know… of course she does, she loves it, and she tries to find out everything she can about the things she loves…." He took in, then released, a shuddering breath. "But to have her actually mention it… does she…? Maybe she means it in another way, it can be interpreted so many different ways… but in the context of the song…."

/ _ When I want to say I love you, I say Boop!/ _

"And Nora's so like her, so similar in so many ways… but…." He groaned, burying his face in his hands. "...this is  _ Kyoko _ . I shouldn't… I can't expect anything. I should know better by now!"

With another strangled groan, he let his head rest against the back of his sofa.

"...Then why do I still want to? Don't I ever learn?"

He glanced at his phone, sitting idly on the table where he had placed it. After a few moments of struggling with himself, he picked it up and clicked through the pictures again.

_ Well, now she knows what I meant… and now I know what she meant. I guess that makes us even. The only problem is…. _ Here he sighed, flicking open his contacts list.  _ How on earth am I going to tell her everything without losing what little hope I've got? _

He selected a name from his contacts; it buzzed four times before a voice came through. "What's up?"

"Akane-san, I would like to audition for the role of Lie Ren. I feel that playing a role with so few speaking parts would help me to grow as an actor. Additionally -"

She cut him off. "Look, it's late - and I already told you that you can have the part."

"But -"

"Just say thank you."

"...Thank you, Akane-san." He paused for a moment; her interest was piqued by his silence.

"What? Come on, it's late. Spit it out."

"I think that I might have someone perfect for Nora - or Ruby. That call's yours to make. I assume that you know  _ Dark Moon _ 's Mio?"

Akane was understandably skeptical. " _ Her _ ? For  _ Nora? _ Mio is like the most un-Nora character ever."

"Yes, but the girl behind Mio is quite the Nora. If you can catch her out of a role, she's insane. She's…" His voice trailed off, his mind swimming with adjectives that did not quite do her justice.

"Promise that she's insane?"

"I promise."

"Fine. Give the info, then. I'll put her on the list of hopefuls."

Ren obliged, then bade his director-to-be goodnight. Plagioclase bumped the remote slightly, encouraging Kuon (though he did not know it) to hit the replay button one more time. As the song began again, he flicked open the pictures of his beloved, his heart swelling with a hope he hardly dared to have - a hope that he felt, in the face of all he had yet to tell her, was in vain.

Fortunately for him, Plagioclase knew better - not that Kuon was aware of this fact. Had he been, perhaps the human's sleep would have come more easily that night… had he not been mulling the cloaked  _ I love you _ over and over again in his mind… had he not been fretting over how to reveal to his land dog that he had been a sea dog all along.

**Please drop me a review to let me know your thoughts about the (finally) developing plot!**


	10. How Can the Stems Be Tied?

**Thank you as always to A-sempai and S-sempai for helping me with this (and through a whole lot of chaos that made it hard to write)! I lofe you both.**

**I don't own anything except Plagioclase (whose porpoise - er, purpose - is finally revealed). Enjoy~!**

Plagioclase awoke to a variety of rustling noises; the human in whose apartment he was currently dwelling was preparing for the day. A smile slipped across the whale's face as his eyelids flicked open; the day, he knew, would end in happiness. Before then, however… he sensed that trouble was brewing. Where, he did not yet know - he only knew that it was, and that it was unrelated to the happiness to come. He furrowed his whale equivalent of a brow, increasing the range of his sensor. Something… something was brewing in a human's heart, something that had been brewing for quite some time. He could not yet tell where she was, however; the signal was weak, due no doubt to the fact that the girl in question was asleep. With a sigh, the whale of love floated out to the kitchen, where the human was trying to talk himself into eating some toast.

The man in question had slept as well as could be expected of someone who had just had a seemingly impossible possibility dropped into his lap without warning - which is to say that he slept, however briefly, amid bizarre dreams of mixed-up messages. The song which was currently on repeat in his mind had floated through the dreams, inevitably circling back to  _ her. _

Speaking of  _ her _ , he ought to eat something soon. His interview started in an hour; if he wasn't at the top of his game, everything could go horribly wrong. Hence, his grim determination to eat toast. The main flaw in his plan was his lack of toaster - or, at least, the lack of knowledge of his toaster's location, as he did indeed own one. It was only with much harried searching that he finally unearthed the appliance - and then underwent a similar search for bread. From his vantage point atop the hidden loaf, Plagioclase watched the man's actions with some level of amusement; however, as Plagioclase is Plagioclase and therefore loves all, he did not judge the actor's inability to keep track of his kitchen, instead choosing to knock said bread onto the floor. It was with no little relief that Kuon finally popped two slices of bread into his toaster - and with considerably less relief that he ate the slices a few minutes later.

Plagioclase watched, amused, as the human picked up his bag and squared his shoulders, putting up his usual front before stepping out his front door - the same front that shattered whenever  _ she _ was involved. The whale might have been tempted to follow the man's journeys that day had he not received a sudden, strong signal. With a swish of his tail, he set out into the world. Someone was in need of him.

**~~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~~~**

Ren hitched his professional smile into place and pushed open the door to the room in which the interview was to occur. He considered it lucky that this particular test was not to be broadcast live; if necessary, he could ask to not have specific sentences shown. Yes, he could ask - not that it would really do much, if he slipped up badly enough. He could only hope that he would keep his head and not endanger any of the secrets which he fought to keep.

"G-Good morning, Tsuruga-san!" His interviewer was new to the business, a rare treat. Perhaps his luck would be good today - Plagioclase only knew how much he'd need - if his interviewer was new, then she would be less likely to entrap him with words, as veterans of the business were wont to do. The girl in question was a slip of a thing, about Kyoko's build, perhaps a few years older and a touch more fashion-conscious than she; dark hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. She dipped a small, awkward bow.

"Good morning, Kita-san." He smiled, sparkles bouncing off of the poor girl's face, and shot Yashiro a grateful glance for finding out the girl's name ahead of time. "How are you doing this fine day?"

"Quite well, thank you." She beamed at him. "Although I must confess to a bit of nervousness, interviewing a big-name celebrity such as yourself!"

He chucked. "Now, no need - I'm sure you'll get used to it quickly. Besides, I'm not all that; I'm just another human being."

A disbelieving smile slipped across her face at this remark, but she let it pass. "Shall we move over towards the seats and begin the interview?"

"Of course." The set was a simple one, consisting of two cushy purple chairs with an end table between them; said end table bore two glasses and a pitcher of liquid. Let it be a note of Kyoko's influence that Ren wondered for a moment if the clear liquid was not water but instead some potion - a Veritaserum of sorts. A quick shake expelled the thought from his mind; after all, this was the wrong type of story for such things. He settled into one of the plush chairs with good grace as Kita signalled for the interview to begin.

"Hello, and welcome to _Michigaya_ _Noriba_! Today we have our long-awaited interview with none other than… the great Tsuruga Ren!" Kita made a sweeping motion with her hand to indicate the man in question, narrowly missing the water pitcher as she did so. "Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here with us today, Tsuruga-san."

"It's my pleasure. And please, 'Ren' is fine." The words came to him easily; how many hundreds of times had he said them, now?

"Why, thank you, Ren-san! Then please call me Mari." She looked appropriately flustered, as they all had.

_ An ordinary interview, eh? _ "Of course, Mari-san."

She gave a little trill of pleasure. "And speaking of names - as an actor, you answer to many different ones! Do you have a favorite?"

"A favorite character, you mean?"  _ She talks a little backwards, like someone else I know. _ At her nod, he continued, "As of right now, I'd still have to say Katsuki."

" _ Dark Moon _ 's Katsuki?"

"Yes. As both my first dark and my first heavily romantic role, it challenged me. I was forced to reach deeper into myself than I had previously."

"How admirable!" Mari exclaimed, pouring them each a glass of water; Ren accepted his with thanks and a smile. "But I must admit, I - along with a good portion of your fanbase - have a slightly different image of you."

"Oh?" he prompted, taking a sip of his water.

"Yes," she said with a slight giggle. "Most people perceive you as a gentleman, an image of light… a  _ prince _ , even."

Ren managed not to choke on his water. "I'm honored."

"You needn't be, really," she smiled. "It's just a natural observation we've made. And given the recent evidence… well, it only seems right, doesn't it?"

"I'm afraid that I don't quite understand what you mean," he returned, the sparkles from his smile starting to pool on the floor of the set.

"You needn't be shy, Ren-san! We all think it's quite fitting. You make a very dashing prince."

The sparkles covered his shoes. "Thank you."

"But there is one thing that we've all been wondering, Ren-san." She leaned forward slightly, an eyebrow quirked, her tone conspiratorial.

"Oh? And that would be?" A mouse - had one existed in the interview area - could drown in the sparkles pooling at his feet.

"At the end of the fairy tale, a prince has a princess… who is yours?" If this were the animal kingdom, she would have pounced; as it was, she simply smiled at him, waiting.

"I'm afraid that I don't understand your question," he replied, his cheeks aching from the force of his smile. "Were we not talking about my previous works?"

"In a way, yes." She took a sip of her water, a smile playing about her lips. "It must have taken a lot of work to put together such an elaborate display."

"And by display, you mean…" He mirrored her action, wary of her words. This could go bad very quickly, or very well in an equally short space of time.

"Oh, Ren-san," she smiled, shaking her head, "is a word game really necessary? After all, the pictures are all over the news. You make a dashing prince - all we'd like to know is: Who is your princess?"

"Do you mean the girl who accompanied me that day?"  _ Carefully, now… can't claim her as my own, not yet... _

"Yes. Who  _ is _ she?"

"She is someone very special to a lot of people."  _ Including me. _

"And does this special someone have a name?"

"She does." He nodded, but did not elaborate further.

"And may we have the pleasure of knowing her name?"

"Not unless she decides she'd like it to be released." A prim answer, but one with a bit of an edge to it. His tone implied that no further inquiries were to be made after the identity of his princess, so Mari switched to a different portion of the topic.

"How princely of you, to protect your damsel." She tilted her head to one side and continued, "In fact, the whole occurrence seems incredibly romantic. Can you really blame us for wondering who your special someone is, to inspire you to do something straight out of a fairy tale?"

"I suppose not," he chuckled. "But I must correct you in your thinking that I can claim her as my own. As I said, she's very special to a lot of people."

"Including you, from the looks of it. What inspired you to do something so extravagant?"

"I…" He cleared his throat and took a sip of water before fully answering. "It was a bit of an experiment, actually."

Mari blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" He took another sip of his water, buying himself more time to think. "Part of it was a test to see how the media would react - in retrospect, of course. The president often berates me for being so boring, so I figured that I ought to make someone happy while diverting his attention for a short while. And she does love fairy tales, after all."

"An experiment to assuage the president and test the media? That sounds a bit too convenient, Ren-san," giggled Mari. "Are you sure it wasn't  _ entirely _ for the sake of your princess?"

"I am positive that it wasn't just for her sake."  _ That date did wonders for me as well. _ His smile slipped a bit as bits of memory flashed through his mind, images of  _ her _ making his sincere smile appear. Mari, who had been reaching for her water glass, knocked it over.

"Oh!" She yelped as it spread across the small end table and began dripping into the still-present pool of sparkles which Ren had previously spawned. "Oh, no -"

"Here," he soothed, pulling a handkerchief out of his sleeve and wiping up the (fortunately small) mess. "It's just water; it'll dry."

"Th-Thank you, Ren-san. I'm so sorry." She shook her head as if to clear it. "You really are a prince charming - a knight in shining armor come to save a damsel in distress!"

"I'm not sure if mopping up a bit of spilled water is worthy of knighthood, but thank you nonetheless." Even more sparkles fell to the ground, covering the damp spot on the carpet.

"W-Well, thank you regardless." Mari sighed, realizing that she'd been diverted by her own clumsiness, and began her attempts to sail the conversation back into interesting waters. "You mentioned an experiment?"

"Did I?" Ren inquired, injecting detached amusement into his voice.

"You said - before I made an awful mess - that your day out with your princess was an experiment. What inspired it?"

"What led me to conduct such an experiment, you mean?" At Mari's nod, Ren continued, "Curiosity - and maybe a bit of hope."

"Would you care to elaborate, Ren-san?" she inquired, voice sugary.

_ No. _ "It worked out rather well, actually. My friend needed a bit of cheering up, and I needed a partner in crime - and I must say that we succeeded on both accounts." A grin began creeping across his face. "Although I must admit that I didn't expect the reaction to be quite this huge." At Mari's look of blatant disbelief, he chuckled. "No, really! I'm afraid that I didn't give too much thought to the scope of the reaction. A bit of an oversight on my part, really, as it could hurt her if this gets out of hand."

"How do you mean?" The interviewer began pouring herself another glass of water, but then thought better of it.

"While I'm sure that my lovely fans," he sparkled at the camera, "wouldn't dream of doing anything violent, there are some unsavory characters who might desire to keep my friend away from me. It's very fortunate that she's something of a chameleon - or a fairy, depending on how you want to put it."

"A chameleon?" As her mouth formed the question, a song by Culture Club popped into Ren's protesting mind.

"Or a fairy," he nodded, banishing the song, "as she's something of a shape-shifter as part of her line of work."

"Have you worked with her before, then?"

"If you're inquiring about whether or not she's been my co-star, she has not."

"But she  _ is _ in entertainment?"

"I never said that," he replied, taking a sip of water.

"But you've worked with her before," Mari pointed out, glee barely hidden in her eyes. "You sidestepped my question, Ren-san."

"I would prefer not to answer questions about her for her sake. She does not wish for her identity to be revealed at this time, and I intend to respect that." He leaned forward; the sparkles were now rising at an alarming rate, almost reaching the cushions of the chairs. "I ask that everyone else do the same."

"I - yes," Mari gulped, taken by surprise; the man's eyes held none of his smile's warmth as they bore into her own. "Of course. I understand how that could cause problems for her. Perhaps later?"

Ren leaned back and took another sip of his water. "Thank you for understanding."

"Of course!" She gave a little trill of laughter. "After all, a prince must protect his princess at all costs!" Off-camera, a hand signalled that the time to finish was drawing near. "Thank you for joining us today, Ren-san."

"It was my pleasure, Mari-san." They stood and exchanged bows; Ren flashed one last dazzling smile at the camera. "Thank you all for listening."

"Good luck with  _ your _ fairy tales, dear viewers!" Mari called, then signalled to shut off the camera. Once they had stepped off of the set, she turned back to Ren. "And with yours, Ren-san."

Ren brushed a stray sparkle off of his shoulder. "To you as well, Mari-san. Good day." With a final bow, he made his way over to his manager.

"Really? An  _ experiment? _ " Yashiro hissed once they had left the studio.

"In a way," Ren shrugged, but did not elaborate. After all, it wasn't a lie - he'd wanted to see how Kyoko would react to a day with him, to a fairy tale come to life, to his barely veiled affections… and he had to admit that he was rather pleased with the results.

**~~~~LINE~~~~**

The fairy-chameleon in question was pedalling along one of the sidewalks in Tokyo to a one-off job. Her school's break had coincided with a period of increased work for her, an occurrence for which she was thankful, as it meant that she would miss fewer lessons. This happenstance also allowed her to attend her evening acting lessons, as her current schedule allowed for more work during the day. Recently, they'd been practicing how to best portray romance - which was, of course, messing with Kyoko's head like none other. She'd tried her best to act like a girl in love, but had been told that her efforts seemed forced. Only when she'd let her mind wander for a few moments - a few dark, dangerous moments filled with carousels and potato pancakes - had her sensei approved. Her protests that she had not been doing anything had fallen on deaf ears, leaving her highly frustrated.

Thus, it was with some distraction that she swerved around a bench and came to a halt in front of the studio in which she was to be today. After locking up her bike - it wouldn't do for it to get stolen, especially not so soon after the tires were replaced - she squared her shoulders, shook thoughts of such things from her mind, and headed into the building. She might have a brewing - her grudges shuddered at the mere thought - romance, but that didn't mean that she was incapable of functioning. Love-struck thoughts could wait until after she'd gotten her work done; after all, romance or not, she was professional _. _

**~~~~LINE~~~~**

Some time later, Ren was making a detour that had distinctly more to do with romance than professionalism. No, he was not skiving off work; one could even argue that this detour had quite a bit to do with work, as it served a dual purpose, one of these being lunch. He was not overly concerned with lunch at the moment, however; to him, the meal's sole use on this day was to serve as an excuse. As he parked his car, he wondered for a moment what he would do if there were no open counter seats, but dismissed this worry with a shake of his head; his grandfather had always said not to borrow trouble. These words were proven wise upon the actor's and his manager's entrance into the restaurant; the counter had three open spots.

"Welcome - oh, hello, again!" Okami-san smiled at Ren, having recognized him as her daughter's date. "Kyoko-chan's at work right now, if you're looking for her. Or are you here for lunch?"

"Good afternoon. And lunch today, please, at the counter if you could." Ren willfully ignored Yashiro's grin at the okami-san's words. His manager was far too invested in the relationship for his own good.

Okami-san, for her part, shared a very knowing smile with the man's manager. "Of course. My husband should have a few minutes between customers, if you'd like to chat with him a bit."

"Thank you." A thought struck him. "If you have a free moment, I'd like to speak to you as well."

"I'll see what I can do," she smiled, leading the pair of men to the counter. "What would you two like to drink?"

"Just water for me, please."

"Same here," chimed in Yashiro, adjusting his glasses. "Work day, after all."

Okami-san gave an approving nod before disappearing behind the curtain leading to the kitchen proper. Yashiro took that moment as an opportunity to cast a gleeful look at his charge. "Nice choice of restaurant, by the way," he snickered, elbowing Ren.

This statement was not dignified with a response, as Ren chose instead to pick up the menu and scan for light fare. After much deliberation, he decided upon what appeared to be a sandwich-like beastie. To his right, Yashiro was making deliberating noises; the man never had been good at choosing a meal quickly. Eventually, though, he set down his menu with a soft  _ thup _ . "Ready?"

"No." Ren heaved a sigh, then realized what he'd said and corrected himself, indicating the symbols on the menu. "I mean, yes. I've decided."

"Ooh, that looks good. I'm getting this," he chattered, indicating a noodle dish, rather unaware of his charge's budding panic. "This is where Kyoko-chan boards, right? It has a good atmosphere."

Before the panicked actor could reply, taisho appeared in front of them, behind the counter. "Orders?"

Both of the younger men placed their orders; taisho squinted at Ren for a moment, recognizing him as the man who had taken his almost-daughter on a date, before nodding and excusing himself to go cook. The actor let out a great breath when the knife-wielding man disappeared once more behind the curtains. Yashiro, wisely, made no comment. Scarcely fifteen minutes later, taisho reappeared at the counter with their orders. They thanked him and - still under his watchful eye - began eating, Ren with a certain amount of effort, as he had actually eaten breakfast that morning. It was only when other orders had to be attended to that the man returned to his kitchen domain. Within the space of ten minutes, however, he returned; his bearing told Ren that his time had come. Yashiro, now sensing that something of importance was to occur, busied himself with his food.

"Sir," Ren attempted to begin, only to have the elder man hold up a hand (and knife) to silence him.

"What are your intentions towards my daughter?"

"I -"  _ Kyoko would be thrilled to be referred to like that, _ his traitorous brain mentioned. "I, ah…"  _ Line, please? _

"Do you intend to marry her?"

(Yashiro quietly choked into his drink.)

Ren paused for a moment at this, not to ponder the truth of his answer, but to wonder how best to phrase it. "Eventually, if she'll have me - and with your permission, as well."

(Yashiro performed a wonderful spit-take into his glass, which was fortunate; otherwise, there would have been a large, watery mess to be cleaned.)

"And what if my wife and I say no?" The knife in the man's hand glinted in the sunlight streaming through a window.

_ For the love of all things holy, pull yourself together. You've faced bigger knives… more murderous faces…  _ why  _ should this one in particular make you sweat through your collar?  _ "In that case, I… I would still inquire of Kyoko, as she is her own person."

"And if she says no?" The knife in the man's hand twisted slightly, angled towards the suitor. "What if she refuses your advances? What then?"

(Yashiro's inner shipper gave an anguished cry at the thought.)

"Then I will…" Ren paused to clear his throat; the very idea of it, one not unfamiliar to him, had brought out a scratchiness in his throat. "I will respect her wishes."  _ And withdraw into myself, to serve only as her sempai once more -  _ if  _ she'll still come anywhere near me. If I'm allowed even that much of an honor. _

The man squinted at him for a moment longer, then gave a short grunt and turned away. "Remember to talk to my wife on your way out."

"Yes, sir. Thank you." Ren gave a small, seated bow, and continued eating - or at least he tried to; the barrage of question marks tossed his way by Yashiro made such a task difficult at best. "Did you want something?"

Yashiro lowered the question mark which he had been preparing to throw. "What exactly just happened there?"

"A conversation," the actor replied, fishing a stray piece of punctuation out of his sandwich wrap.

"I know  _ that _ ," the elder of the pair replied, waving a question mark threateningly at his charge. "But why did he just walk away?"

"I'm allowed, but on probation," mumbled Ren through a mouthful of sandwich.

"How can you tell?" Yashiro returned to his noodles; after all, they still had a schedule to keep.

"I don't have a knife through me right now."

"He could get in serious trouble for that, though."

"I assure you that a man that adept with a knife would find a way to make it look like an accident."

"Your fans would be very  _ cut up _ about it," grinned Yashiro, unable to resist the cheap pun (it cost him only two of his question marks).

Ren did not dignify that with a response, instead choosing to finish his sandwich while wondering where the other man had procured the question marks in the first place. Yashiro, once more taking the hint, finished his noodles in silence. When they stood up to take their leave, however, a wild okami-san appeared suddenly in their path, a wide smile plastered across her face.

"You'll take good care of our Kyoko-chan." It was neither a question nor a statement; rather, it was a warning. It did not sound like one - from an outsider's perspective, the woman's voice was quite sweet and gentle - but it was one nonetheless, and Ren did not mistake this fact. Thus, the soft words and steely eyes sent a shiver down his spine; the woman before him, smiling and reaching up to pat his cheek but finding herself unable to reach that high, terrified him more than the knife-wielding man had. "She'll be nice and safe and happy with you."

"I-I'll do my best," he gulped, leaning down a bit so that she could pat him as she wished.

(Yashiro was suppressing his giggles at this sight.)

"I'll look forward to the wedding, then, Tsuru-chan," she smiled, and let go of his face. "Now shoo. I'm sure that Japan's top actor has important things to do."

He nodded and bowed, then took his leave with a guffawing Yashiro bobbing along in his wake.

**~~~LINE~~~~**

Plagioclase swam unceremoniously through the doors of LME; normally, he would have staged a grand entrance befitting his title of all-loving orca, but not today. Today, he was needed by one who had just suffered heartbreak of the most genuine kind - that kind which entails a wish of happiness for both parties combined with a blinding sense of betrayal. The small spectre-whale swam swiftly, for he knew that whoever was suffering so was alone in their pain - not alone in the sense that such a pain had never been felt by any other, but in the sense that whoever it was had no one capable of truly comforting them. Grief, in any stage, for whatever reason, cannot be dealt with lightly; it cannot be brushed aside by a few simple words, by a mere gesture of any sort. It can be only helped by time, by a comforting ear - it never truly abates, this grief, but it can be conquered. And to conquer it alone requires the greatest of strengths, a strength which no human being is truly capable of having in its entirety. Yes, they are capable of proving themselves through it in some ways, and in those ways they excel - but to have it in its entirety is beyond a single human being's capabilities. With others, with understanding, with time - then it may be achieved, especially with a large quantity of the last of these. Thus, Plagioclase swam with all haste, in order to lend what a spectral whale could to a hurting human being; his sensor led him around a corner and into a cleverly concealed room. Upon entering, he slowed to approach with caution.

The thundercloud of emotion roiling around the tiny human curled on the floor was visible to him, which was never a good sign. That, combined with the utter silence of the human - who, judging by hair, was female - sent shivers down Plagioclase's fins. A soft hum escaped his mouth as he floated closer, alerting the homo sapien to his presence; he made himself visible.

Maria jolted, dry-eyed, at the sight of the floating miniscule orca. "What…? Grandfather, is this another prank?"

Plagioclase floated closer, shaking his fins to indicate that this was not the case. "I am Plagioclase."

"Maria."  _ Grandfather… this  _ is  _ your doing, isn't it? _ "Why are you here, Plagioclase-san?"

"I sensed your emotional turmoil and came to offer whatever comfort I can," the whale replied gravely, his deep voice reverberating slightly against the walls of the hidden room.

A laugh, almost genuine enough to not reveal itself as false, escaped Maria's lips; however, as Plagioclase is Plagioclase and therefore is an expert in both reading emotions and loving all, the attempted deception was not believed. "I don't understand."

"That's okay. I still love you." The slightly Greek tone of his accent came through in these words - these very same words which tugged at Maria's thin veil of self-deception until it shredded before her very eyes, pieces becoming the water that streamed down her face. Her expression became contorted with shame; she thought that she was stronger than this… she had vowed never to cry again, hadn't she? Not over something so ridiculously stupid as... as….

As two of the people she loved and trusted most in the world completely and utterly trampling her heart without even  _ noticing? _

The miniature orca rested a fin on the girl's shoulder, dusting it soothingly as she sobbed. "How… how  _ could _ they? Th-They both knew, but they still… they still..." She hiccupped, shuddering. "And I-I-I… I egged them on! I h-helped this hap-happen! B-But still… how?  _ Why? _ " A deep breath entered her lungs, then exited with nothing short of a scream, " _ I thought I was better than this! _ W-Why… why aren't I  _ older? _ "

Plagioclase began humming something - a tune that was at once familiar and foreign to Maria's young ears - but did not reply; after all, no mere words can heal such a wound.

"N-Not that a few years really would've made a difference, since it's… since it's  _ them _ ." She hiccupped again. "Ren-sama and onee-san… I just - I'm happy that they're there for each other, but I can't  _ stand _ it. Th-There's no one else I'd rather have them be with, but… but…  _ it's just not fair!" _ This last bit came out in a wail; the whale dusted her shoulder consolingly, and once again said his line.

"That's okay. I still love you."

Perhaps it was because the whale had spent so much time living in said human's dwelling as of late, but something in his voice - his tone, rather - registered in Maria's subconscious as akin to Ren's… as if to remind her that neither human involved would love her any less for loving each other. For while words cannot always serve as comfort, the tones and meanings which underlie them can, in some small way - and that way is sometimes enough to help a person carry on.

Plagioclase stayed until Maria's tears had ceased and her breathing patterns had returned to normal. Then, with an awkward little bow and a bob of his tail, he swam back out into the hallway. Maria watched as he vanished, wondering vaguely if her onee-san had sent him to her as an apology of sorts. A tentative smile tugged at her lips before she glanced at her watch. It was time for tea with her grandfather.

Out in the hallway, Sebastian gave a nod of thanks to his old friend as the spectral whale swam past (for Sebastian is Sebastian and is therefore friend to all spectral whales); Plagioclase waved a fin in return before swimming out into the streets of Tokyo.

**~~~LINE~~~~**

Kyoko leaned back, stretching slightly as she walked towards the door of the studio. Her morning's shoot had gone well; there were only a few instances when the director had to call for a retake of the scene. The job in question would occupy the entirety of her day, but the director had told them to take off a couple of hours for lunch; he knew quite well that his employees would perform better if they were well-fed and watered. Thus, Kyoko found herself wandering in the vague direction of the door - and, as her attentions were elsewhere, bumping into someone.

"I'm so sorry! I - Hikaru-onii-san! Hello!"

"Hey, Kyoko-chan," he grinned. "And sorry, too - I wasn't looking where I was going. Where are you headed?"

"I am in pursuit of lunch." She hitched her bag a little higher on her shoulder, as it was slipping.

"Same here. I know a good pizza place, want to come with?" He rolled his shoulders back a bit as he said this, shaking out their sudden tenseness. Such tenseness was understandable, given his situation of unrequited love and all that semi-stereotypical and heartbreaking jazz (played, as it was, on the tuba by a beluga).

Of course, as Kyoko is Kyoko and is therefore willfully dense about such things, the girl on the receiving end of his affections assumed that the rolling shoulders indicated sore muscles. Thinking no further on the subject, she smiled. "Sure!"

"Cool. I was looking forward to it, but then we got kind of sidetracked - not that I didn't enjoy your cooking! It was great! But I - yeah. Pizza?"

Kyoko nodded, shoving her previously uncomfortable thoughts further into the fairy-infested depths of her mind; she was going to have lunch with her onii-san, and therefore should not be rudely distracted. "Where is it? The pizza place, I mean."

"Just a block down to the left, once we're out of here. Shall we?" Here he motioned to the door, which stood some fifteen feet away. Upon her nod of assent, he took several large steps that were supposed to be grand and dignified - but really just looked a bit reminiscent of a swaggering ostrich - and swung the door open for his friend. "After you."

Kyoko laughed, shoved thoughts of a similar situation (sans ostrich) to the back of her mind, and walked out the door. Hikaru, after observing her for a moment, followed suit and fell into step beside her. The walk there was a pleasant one, short as it was; the pizzeria was small and smelled of cheese, tomatoes, and garlic. The chatter, however, was impressive; even at that odd hour, the place was packed. Fortunately, however, they managed to find a small booth. A waiter came over and took their order (a medium pizza with cheese and vegetables, plus pepperoni on half). The two were then left to their own devices. Naturally, as they are them and are therefore quite strange, the conversation eventually wound around to fruit.

"I think that my favorite fruit would have to be either oranges or strawberries," Kyoko nodded, partway through the discussion and with great thought. "Granted, they're not as likely to take over the world as - say - pineapples, but for pure flavor, I'd have to go with them."

Wisely glossing over the interrupting statement, Hikaru nodded as well. "Personally, I'm a fan of cherries."

"You're so smart, Hikaru-onii-san!" she exclaimed, startling the other patrons. "The flavor, when combined with pit-weapons, would permit them to be third-in-command in the Fruit World Domination Theory! Plus, with the distracting power of the stems…." (Here she descended into mumbling, before snapping out of it quite suddenly to ask:) "What's the deal with the stems, anyway?"

"Huh?" he asked, laughing, as a passing waitress conveniently delivered a bowl of aforementioned stemmed fruit to their table (because the authoress is pressed for time and has borrowed control of this universe from the fruit overlords). "The stems?"

"Yeah! A bunch of the girls in my class were fussing over them a few weeks ago, but I never really got a chance to ask about it. Do you know what's special about cherry stems, Hikaru-onii-san?" she inquired, popping a cherry into her mouth.

Hikaru cleared his throat, a tad uncomfortable, before replying with hesitancy, "Well, people say it's hard to tie the stems in a knot with your tongue, and that a person is - um - special if they can do it."

"Like thith?" Kyoko inquired, sticking out her cherry-stained tongue to reveal a loose knot. Let it be much to Hikaru's credit that he managed not to choke on his water, and much to the waiter's that the pizza arrived directly after his nod.

"Yeah, like that. Congrats, Kyoko-chan, you're really special."  _ To me, and to lots of people. _

Kyoko beamed at her honorary onii-san before murmuring her usual denials, more out of habit than anything. The pair then dug into the pizza and let the matter drop, though the new information would naturally haunt Hikaru's mind for many weeks to come. (Poor, poor Hikaru…! The authoress is so mean to you, after dangling Kyoko before you like bait for so long in her inconsistencies….)

The pair, upon paying for the food and - after much debate - settling the matter of the bill (Hikaru insisted on paying for the meal; Kyoko paid for the tip, as it would be improper of her to not pay for anything), departed for the continuation of their work. Kyoko allowed herself to be escorted back to her filming location, then bid farewell to her honorary onii-san. The man in question waved his goodbye before hurrying off to his own work, thoughts of cherries to haunt his dreams that night.

**~~~~LINE~~~~**

Ren, some indefinite period of time later, was having his scheduled mental breakdown. He had finished work a bit early that day - as per his own request to his manager (made some chapters back) - and returned to his apartment in order to ready himself for his love's arrival. Of course, as this required the preparation of food, the all-loving spectral whale was provided with entertainment before the main event began. Japan's number-one actor, as it transpired, did not have the faintest idea as to how one went about making grilled cheese sandwiches. Plagioclase took pity on him some twenty-seven minutes after the fretting and burning began, shoving Ren's phone towards the hopeless man. He took the hint - though without knowing that it was, indeed, a hint - and performed a quick internet search for recipes. They proved to be deceptively simple; eventually, after many attempts and despite his inexpertise, managed to prepare what appeared to be semi-palatable sandwiches. He popped them into the oven to keep warm (taking care, as instructed by the internet, to put them on a cookie sheet) and proceeded to wash the cherries he planned to serve with them, as cherries were one of the few fruits of which he was able to discern the ripeness.

Of course, as Ren is Ren and is therefore a nervous wreck when it comes to Kyoko, then realized that he had approximately twenty minutes left with which to deal. This set him to pacing, and Plagioclase to humming.

Kyoko, meanwhile, was finishing up her last scene of the day. That job had become, towards the end, a bit wearing on her already frayed nerves. The director of the bit she was in had seen the commercial she had shot (both as Bo and as a human character) with Hikaru-onii-san, and had thus been under the impression that she was not a bearer of a mental block concerning all things romance. She had been forced to dredge up memories of a few days previous in order to act properly; her mind was in havoc as a result. And now to think that she was going to see the very man responsible for her distracting confusion - it was almost enough to make her run her bike into a telephone pole, for all that she could see her path forward!

Despite this deep-seated and ever-present confusion, she managed to arrive in front of Ren's apartment building unharmed (albeit a bit breathless, as she had hurried without having any real reason to do so). Upon realizing that she was a full twenty minutes early, Kyoko attempted to lock up her bike with all the swiftness of a noble slothy steed (sans jetpack), but to no avail. She was then left with two options: Either walk up and possibly offend by arriving early, or stew in her own thoughts for another eighteen minutes. She opted for the former, as her mind had been cruel to her as of late. The elevator had never moved so quickly, nor had she ever less wanted it to do so. The door to her doom - as her grudges insisted upon calling it - was before her eyes in a matter of seconds.

_ I probably should've brought something to cook with, _ she realized as she raised her fist to knock.  _ But if I go back now, I'll be late…. _ Her wrist moved before she could finish her internal argument, alerting the beings within to her presence. Plagioclase made it to the door first, sticking his head through to greet her; her startled cry had Ren ripping open the door.

"What's -" His panicked question died on his lips at the sight of his beloved cuddling with something small and invisible; from the looks of it, whatever she held was only about the length of her forearm.

"Ren, you didn't tell me you had a roommate!" She beamed, obviously expecting him to be able to see whatever she held, before turning her attention back to the spectral whale. "Plagioclase-san the all-loving orca whale, is it?"

Plagioclase nodded and forgave her previous ignorance with his typical line, leaving Kyoko halfway between smiling and sputtering.

"What did this - ah - Plagioclase-san say?"

"He said - um…." She looked up at him, biting her lip - it wasn't really as if she could say it word-for-word, after all! - before making a decision. She took two steps forward, towards him, and reached up -

"Boop!" she declared, poking the tip of his nose. Plagioclase observed, from his spot in Kyoko's other hand, as one of the intangible feathers on Kuon's back lightened in shade.

Ren's mind, unaware of this change, switched once more into overdrive, considering both his fears of her everlasting hatred and everything he knew about the song by the same name.  _ Does she know I've heard the song? _

Apparently he stood there for a bit too long, for Kyoko looked up at him, nerves quite obvious. "M-May I come in?"

He collected himself enough to reply:

"As you wish."

**Please drop me a review! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter! :D**


	11. How Can the Truth Be Known?

**Plagioclase would like the readers to note that even if they don't really get him, that it is okay, as he still loves them, and that all readers should** ** _not_** **expect any sort of speed with updates. Ever. Also, I do not own anything you recognize other than the lovely orca himself (as much as we can own other creatures, that is).**

Kyoko's mind reeled as she entered the apartment. She hadn't been wrong, then - she knew what those words meant, what they had meant when he'd said them during their day together, what they meant in the context of the story.

Meanwhile, in the Kyoko meeting room, Annabel was sprawled on one of the red, squashy couches, watching the going-ons of the outside world. "Wow," she said, after Ren's reply of cloaked love had been voiced, "cowboy really did it."

"Did what?" Kyoko's Kuon inquired.

"He really made her fall in love with him." The grudges were, by this time, huddled around Mio for protection; any exposure to this dangerous man, after all, would result in their untimely demise.

"Of course he did," Setsu scoffed, "he's nii-san's alter ego, and nii-san can do anything, so his alter ego should be able to do at least  _ that _ much."

"It's much nicer in here now than it used to be, you know," commented the demon-angel, ignoring Setsu's typical comment. "When I first got here, it wasn't nearly this bright or comfortable."

"That's because Mama has healed some," an angel piped up - well, down, as she was painting the ceiling. "She's happy now."

The boss Kyoko was flailing in the driver's seat of the body.  _ I cannot believe I just did that. He's probably heard the song, too, since he was doing research for his Lie Ren role… but he  _ knows  _ that I've seen the movie, I think I mentioned it to him at one point. So why…? Actually, you lot - _ she thought, addressing the inhabitants of the Kyoko meeting room -  _ discuss. I'll deal with this… man. _

"I… I brought  _ Tangled _ ," she volunteered, snapping back to the realm of reality. "But I forgot to go to the grocery store, even though I said I would! I'm very sorry!" She went to bow, but found that his proximity prevented such an action, as it resulted in her smacking her forehead against his chest.

One wave of apologies later (on which Plagioclase surfed like the pro he is), Ren laughed. "It's fine, Kyoko. I decided to try my hand at cooking something other than omurice, and I think that it turned out palatable at the very least."

"You didn't have to-!"

"I wanted to."

"But you've done so much already, and-" The smile he bestowed upon her silenced any further protests. "I… um… Magikarp."

"Come," he gestured grandly as he spoke, "let's go see if what I've concocted is edible in the slightest."

Plagioclase expressed his doubts; Kyoko giggled, relaxing a bit. Having a mystical creature around was very comforting to her distressed mind. Kuon - for he really  _ was _ Kuon now, in everything but the language which he spoke - enjoyed the sound as he fetched the grilled cheese sandwiches from the oven and handed Kyoko the bowl of cherries. She observed them with a level of interest while trailing him back out to his living room, where, he explained, he thought they could watch the movie while they ate. She agreed, glad to have something with which she could distract her traitorous thoughts. Once the movie was in the DVD player, he sat down on the couch; however, rather than sitting opposite him, in one of the chairs, Kyoko elected to plop down on the cushion directly adjacent to his. Plagioclase chuckled as Kuon fought and lost the battle of hiding how ridiculously pleased this small action made him. A hint of color tinged his cheeks as she brushed against him, leaning forward to pick up one of the semi-mutilated sandwiches. The remote proved to be a good distraction, as it gave him something to do with his hands, choosing the "play" option - and with his eyes as well, rather than watching her lips part to take a bite of his concoction of cheese and bread.

"Wow, this is actually somewhat edible."

"You like it?" he asked, thoughts switching to more innocent rails.

"Well…" she tossed him a Natsu-esque wink. "I didn't say  _ that _ ."

"Ah… sorry," he chuckled, picking up his own to take a bite. "Dad's were always great - but then, he used homemade bread when he had a chance to make it."

"Really?" He'd never talked much, if at all, about his parents in front of her - as Kyoko, anyway.

"Yeah. I mean, this is somewhat edible, but his were great - and you know better than anyone that I don't really care about food unless it's phenomenal."

"But you always like my food," she countered, confused.

"My point stands." He took another bite and sighed. "I just  _ which _ I could've made something a little more refined and a little less burnt."

"Was… was that a pun?" Kyoko inquired as the first song of the movie played in the background.

"Yeah, but not a very good one, apparently," he grinned, noting that his princess was paying more attention to their conversation than to the Disney movie on the television screen.

"No, I mean - I guess I'm still not quite used to you making puns yet, is all." After taking another bite, she added, "I mean, I think the first one I ever heard you make was  _ Telling _ , so -" She paused here, taking another bite of her semi-palatable sandwich. "I just… thank you for the other day. Really." She met his eyes then, an earnest look shining from them that almost forced his hand.

"No problem," he smiled, resting his free arm along the back of the couch, "I enjoyed it as well.  _ Really _ ."

She recognized the teasing note in his voice and smiled, an unguarded action. Plagioclase observed as one of the feathers on Ren's back changed from murky black to a bright, shining gold; the pair lapsed into silence, eating the poor excuses for grilled cheese sandwiches and watching the movie's progression. Eventually, Kyoko finished hers and stood up to go refill her cup. Ren protested, saying that he ought to do it, as she was his guest, but she merely laughed and said that it was fine.

"Oh, and would you mind popping a few cherries onto my plate, please, if you're so intent on doing something?"

"Sure."  _ I could pop  _ yours  _ for you, if you want…. _ He scolded himself for this thought; there were many more steps to scale before he could even think about getting to that point. Shaking his head, he did as she had asked. When she returned, he forced himself to attempt to pay attention to the movie - and  _ not _ to the fact that she had just put the entire cherry, stem and all, into her mouth. Nor did he acknowledge the fact that when she spat out the stem and pit, the former was tied in a loose knot. Or, at least, he attempted not to do so; he failed miserably, as Ren is Ren but also is Kuon and thus there is no known cure.

Kyoko, upon noticing his noticing her, quirked an eyebrow. "Do  _ you _ know what the deal with cherry stems is, Ren? Because I heard some of the girls in my class at school talking about it and when I asked Hikaru-onii-san at lunch today, he didn't really explain it all that well. Just muttered something about 'special' and then started eating pizza."

At which point Ren's (rather, Kuon's) mind predictably went blank before overloading. Plagioclase, for his part, floated over to explain the mythos surrounding the cherry knots to the highly confused seventeen-year-old; this resulted, of course, in said girl being left in a flustered mess of apologies, squeaking about how she never meant to imply anything of the sort and how she was probably awful at it regardless, so please forget all of that, Ren. Kuon forgot to shut his mouth in time to prevent a rebuttal from rising to it: "Of course you're not."

Kyoko, as she is Kyoko and therefore irrevocably naive, merely bit a cherry off of its stem and replied, "You really don't need to try to comfort me with lies about such things, Ren. I'm not all that worried about it - besides, you wouldn't know either way. Only Corn's counts, and that was to break a curse, and then as thanks."

Kuon was not quite sure whether he should feel relieved or incredibly frustrated, but somehow managed to hold in yet another lewd offer - this one of teaching her to do far more with one of the strongest muscles in her body than knotting cherry stems. Naturally, his thought process did not have this precise wording, but the authoress decided that a ridiculous description was necessary at this point, especially since the next few minutes consisted of almost nothing but the pair watching the movie in silence.

Of course, as they are them and there is no known cure, Plagioclase was not left to boredom. Being the spectral whale he was, he could sense most of what the humans were feeling at that moment. Kyoko was conflicted, feeling somewhat guilty about how much of an imposition she had been lately yet oddly comfortable in the fact that Ren had denied her most recent claim without any basis. A small, hopeful part of her attempted to whisper that perhaps he would like to try; this particular angel, unfortunately, flew too close to Mio, and was therefore put out of commission for the next twenty-seven and a half minutes. Kuon, for his part, was reflecting somewhat depressingly that, if she were to reject him once he told her all he had to tell, at least he would have these few golden days… and the knowledge of the symbol hidden in her tiara. Needless to say, no one was paying particular attention to the movie, and thus it should come to no surprise to the reader that the next scene begins before the meaning of the lanterns was revealed.

"Kyoko, I -"

"Um, Ren -"

"Go ahead."

"No, you're my sempai, you should go -"

"And I'm afraid I have quite a bit to tell you. I'm certain almost anything you have to say, unless it's a recital of  _ War and Peace _ or of the fifth book in the  _ Harry Potter _ series, will be much quicker. Please," he nodded, shifting his body so that he was entirely facing her, giving her his full attention, "go right ahead."  _ After all, once I'm done, you might not want to tell me anything ever again. _

"It's nothing, really… I just…"

His heart took up a sudden hammering.  _ Do not get your hopes up. Do not get your hopes up. _

"I just wanted to… to thank you again for everything you've done for me. I… I don't know what I ever did to deserve any of it."  _...or you. _

"You've done more than you know, Kyoko." She sensed the bitter edge to his smile, his reluctance, and looked at him questioningly. "I… was that all you had to say?"

_ No. I have so much more I need to tell you, not that I ever could, not really. _ "Yes."

"Then I'll… I'll be right back." He stood up and, leaving her in the living room, walked back to his bathroom and opened his contacts case. Plagioclase observed with interest as the man steeled himself before removing the shields of false identity from his eyes, revealing the color that Kyoko so loved. Then, as if walking to his death, he exited the bathroom and returned to his lady-love.

The change in his appearance, once noticed, resulted in two minutes of absolute silence during which Kyoko's mind switched from maximum overdrive to light speed to plaid, and then -

"Your hair?"

"Naturally blonde."

This was met by yet more silence, during which she matched his physical stats with Corn's and took into consideration Ren's mention to Bo of knowing the girl whom he loved since childhood. Going forward on the assumption that that girl was her, then….

Ren sat down next to the silent, still Kyoko, worrying over her lack of response. He opened his mouth to ask something, anything, when -

"HOW COULD I BE SO  _ STUPID _ ?"

He startled backwards as she rocketed to her feet. "K-Kyoko?"

She paced back and forth in front of the couch, waving her arms madly as she spoke, "At Last I See the Light" playing in the background. "All the stats match, and I should have  _ known _ that there couldn't possibly be two people like that, able to emit that type of smile, heavenly or not! And they tried to tell me - they did, and I didn't listen! All the grudges and angels whispering everything to me, trying to get me to see what was right in front of my face this whole time, but I thought that it couldn't possibly be true, but - THEY WERE RIGHT! WHY AM I SO DENSE? THEY WERE RIGHT ALL ALONG - YOU PRETTY MUCH TOLD ME AS BO! AND - UGH!"

Bo chose that moment to burst into the Kyoko meeting room with the lala land marching band, with which he had been training all this time.

"Kyoko… Kyoko, is… are you -?"

"WILL YOU PLEASE JUST LET ME PANIC FOR A MOMENT?" This was somewhat outside of her normal range of reactions, but it must be taken into account that she had just suffered a rather large shock.

Kuon nodded mutely as Kyoko continued.

"And I'd talked myself out of it because you told Bo - who is me, by the way, since secret identities are coming out - that it was 'as kids,' but as you're Corn and have been hiding it from me for some god-forsaken reason, then that can't really taken into account anymore. And after all this time, I - I thought I could  _ trust  _ you, but you've been hiding this from me, you  _ laughed _ at me when I confided in you about Corn! And - and -!" Her words stopped here as she gulped for air; water was streaming down her face, more from frustration and notions of betrayal than anything else.

"If... " Kuon swallowed, figuring that this might be his only chance to say anything for another little while. "If it helps at all… I have my reasons and would like to tell you, if I may."

Unsure of whether she was more frustrated at his silence or her own denseness, Kyoko nodded, flopping back down on the opposite side of the couch and hugged one of his sofa parasites.

And so Kuon talked, talked until his voice was raw and his hands shook from the reliving of the events, begging her with every syllable to understand, to listen, to  _ believe  _ him - to believe that he had not wanted to keep it from her, once he realized who she was, had not wanted to keep any of it from her, not even himself as Kuon - "... _ please,  _ Kyoko. I really - I didn't…I didn't mean for  _ any _ of this to happen… but it led me back to you, and…" his voice shook and died.

She nodded, eyes still trained on him; that simple action alone was enough so that even he could almost feel the feathers on his back being cleansed, turning brilliant after spending so long in the muck. And then -

"I understand why you kept quiet. That doesn't mean that I'm happy about it, but I understand why you did it. And I can't really blame you for that, either - for any of it."

"You - you don't?" he asked, taken aback.

"Nope. Especially the part with your mentor - your friend. That was an accident."

"But if I hadn't -"

"Nope."

"But -"

"Nope. That was then; this is now. I  _ would, _ however, like an explanation for your actions in Guam. You," she paused, emotions flashing in her eyes, "tricked me. I thought you were my friend, I thought I could trust you, but you -! You lied to me, you took advantage of me! You - you  _ played _ me!" Emotion seemed to overcome her now; she turned her head away from him as memories flickered on the projector in the Kyoko meeting room, replaying every time - every _ thing _ .

"Kyoko, I  _ wanted _ to tell you, but I - I didn't know how, and I didn't want to kill your fantasy before I had to -"

"You started walking away, but then came back. Why didn't you just leave?"

"Because I couldn't leave you like that," his voice was quieter now, begging for her to believe him - to give him another chance, a chance he did not deserve. "You've had so much sadness already… I couldn't stand to cause you any more."

"Then  _ why _ ," she whispered, voice shaking - from what, he could not tell, "why did you tell me all those beautiful lies? Why did you  _ kiss _ me?

"Because I'm selfish."

Plagioclase nodded, bobbing up and down in the current that was starting to rise around Kyoko.

"What?" Her shoulders dropped back as she sat up straighter, more defiant now than she was before that statement. " _ What? _ "

"I…" His hands opened and closed, as if by catching the air he could find the right way, the only way, to explain this trespassing of his into her faerie world. "I thought - I knew - that I would never have a chance to do anything like that otherwise. I believed that you would sooner turn away from me as I am - as I've now shown you, told you - than ever… ever want to come near me. I never thought you would still be sitting here, listening to my feeble excuses for my disasters… I just wanted to feel close to you, once." He swallowed, his words having tumbled over one another, coating the inside of his throat until he could no longer speak clearly. "I'm so sorry, Kyoko… I'm so, so sorry."

"So you made fun of the traditions of fairy tales just to… 'feel close to me?'" she inquired, fingers sketching quotes in the air; her voice had a bite to it that she did not want there, but could not prevent from manifesting.  _ Not once, but twice… twice he's used fairy tales to make me fall for him. That's just not  _ fair.

"I never meant to make fun of them! I wanted to help you live one!" These words were ripped from him, tugged from his tortured throat - but how else could he try to make her understand, even if she had already understood far more than he had ever expected of her?

"Well, then  _ why _ me? Why tell me any of this - all of this?  _ Why _ go so far for someone like me, not for someone who's more deserving, more on your level - you  _ know _ I'm not remotely good enough for something like -"

" _ Bullshit! _ " he snapped, before he could stop himself. "There's no way in hell that that's true!  _ You _ of all people should -" his voice broke, "... should know that  _ now _ ."

"Am I also allowed to call male cow poop?" she inquired, arms folded; she was no longer yelling, but the softness of her voice was frightening. "I thought we established that all of that was in the past, and it would no longer be considered in the discussion of current events?"

"I…" He swallowed again. "If you want it to be."

"Yes. Now  _ actually _ answer my question."

"Which one?"  _ Dare I feel relieved yet…? No, I shouldn't. She might just be trying to be fair to me, to hear me out completely before cutting ties forever…. _

"Why did you kiss me - why did you pretend to follow the fairy tale's guidelines if you were just going to kiss me again?  _ Why? _ "

"Because…"  _ Line, please? _ "...because I-I  _ needed _ to."

Her eyes grew wide; he recognized the signs of lala land. "You mean you were actually cursed?"

"In a way, but not by any hand other than my own. My wings… they may have grown in, but I've stained them beyond repair - I'm so sorry, Kyoko. I don't think I'll ever be able to fly for you again."

_ Thwap _ . A couch parasite smacked into the side of his face; Kyoko had taken it in hand.

"Will -"

_ Thwap. _

"- you -"

_ Thwap. _

"- shut -"

_ Thwap. _

"-  _ UP _ ?" She ceased her assaults when he caught the cushion; her chest was heaving. "You are  _ not _ beyond repair! Stop spouting self-deprecating gibberish, especially since it isn't true now even if it might have been once! It's killing me inside to see you like this, to hear you say this stuff - I…!" Her eyes were bright, from water or anger or both. "I…!"

Plagioclase nudged the back of Ren's head, prompting him to say something, do anything.

"Kyoko… if… if it helps any," he paused, reaching towards her, surprised when she let him brush a stray tear from her cheek. "I… do you remember how I told Bo that… that I couldn't have happiness anywhere?"

She nodded, eyes blazing into his as another tear slipped down her cheek; her hand held his to her flushed skin. "I do."

"I think that… with time, and with some help… I think I might be able to change that view."

Plagioclase nodded to the intangible wings stretched behind the man; Kyoko, without shifting her gaze, touched a feather, causing it to turn a bright, shining gold.

"How?"

"By giving you a proper answer this time. I've been trying to wait for ages - until I got up my nerve, until I thought you were ready, and tonight, until I thought we were both calm enough for me to be able to say it." He took a shaky breath; he knew that his hand trembled against her cheek. "May I?"

"Please," she whispered, almost knowing what was coming next… and not quite sure whether or not she wanted to hear it. "Please."

"As you wi-" His voice broke again; he closed his eyes, trying to gather himself. It would be better to just say it, no codes or foreign languages this time; he needed to be absolutely sure that his words reached her, if only in a whisper. "I… I love you, Kyoko. I have for a very long time and I've tried not to because neither of us were ready for it, but I can't help it. You're everything to me - you've dragged me out of my darkest times just by  _ being _ there and I will never be able to thank you enough for it; you are the reason I can feel happy again. I can… I can wait if you need more time, and I'll understand if you don't want a relationship, or just not one with me - but I never meant to play you. I meant every bit of what I said in Guam, and everything I told you on our date - I still do. I love you, Kyoko. Please just… do I have a chance to stay in your life? Any at all?"

Kyoko, who had not moved once during this impromptu speech, save for the widening of her eyes and the quickening of her breath, pulled back slightly and gave a helpless little shrug.

Plagioclase waited, holding his spectral breath; the inhabitants of the Kyoko meeting room did the same, though they knew what words were to come next.

"I've told you already, haven't I?" she inquired, giving him a bittersweet little smile before raising her finger and touching it to his nose. "Boop."

Slowly, visible only to Plagioclase, a change occurred. The wings on Kuon's back seemed to shake off a layer of filth - not the entirety of it, for that he would have to do himself, over time, but the first layer - revealing a gold equal only to the eyes of the girl sitting before him. Simultaneously, the inhabitants of the Kyoko meeting room observed with varying levels of relief, amusement, and disgust as the warning ropes around a certain part of lala land disintegrated completely. A stray lala-lobster ate the particles before scuttling off to find more nutritious sustenance.

"But…" she continued, after a few moments of stunned silence, "I'm not quite sure about being together-together with… anyone. I trust you, so I do want to at least try it if you'll have me, but I… if we do… could we take it slow? I'm not used to… anything like this. To being loved at all."

He nodded a confirmation, now unable to speak for an entirely different reason than that of some few minutes prior.

"I just… this past year or so has been insane. Coming to terms with reality, meeting everyone at LME, finally finding a best friend, gaining a little sister… finding you - again, even if I didn't know I had until now - finding  _ me _ . I'm so scared that one day I'm going to wake up and all of this will be gone, that I'll be back in Kyoto without any of this - that I'll be who I was and might have been had I not stumbled into this fairy tale. I just… I don't want the magic to end, any of it. I've been extremely lucky since coming here… this is everything beyond my wildest fantasies, and it's  _ real, _ it's  _ mine _ ." She turned her face in his hand, and nuzzled against his fingers, her lips tracing the base of his thumb as she fought to get her breathing back to normal. "I want to keep it forever… I don't want it to be another nightmare of beautiful, stupid dreams."

"It won't be." His voice had returned at the feel of her somewhat chapped lips against his skin.

"How can you promise that?" Her eyes were away from his, now; she could not bear to see what lay there, behind the green that had just promised her everything she could ever want out of her life.

"I can't promise that; but I can promise that I'll try to help you keep it, if you'll let me. May I… may we…could we be together-together?"

"We may," she whispered, a smile tugging its way onto her face when she realized whose line he had used. Swallowing again, she shifted suddenly to sitting on her knees, putting her on his eye level as her lips formed a name she had known longer than she thought she had. "Kuon…."

The pseudo-fairy prince could have sworn that in that moment his pulse was visible. Kyoko -  _ his _ Kyoko, he could say that now - had just done, confirmed what he had thought was impossible. And now, she was leaning towards him, drawing her face towards his; he leaned forward as well, hardly daring to believe that this could be something happening while awake, not during the sleeping hours -

But it was her fingers that touched his lips, blocking his assumption. Instead she touched her nose to his in a light gesture, whispering that word again.

He nodded, feeling a bit foolish for thinking it might move that quickly. "Yeah… boop."

There followed a brief silence during which Plagioclase sent out great wails of happiness, which somewhat broke the mood for Kyoko, who laughed and then had to explain why she was laughing to a highly confused Kuon. This resulted in mildly befuddled laughter from the man; when this had abated, she spoke again, now looking a bit abashed.

"I'm sorry for attacking you with your own cushions. I just kind of… lost it."

"As it was in my defense, I don't think I can really fault you on it."

"True."

"I kind of deserved it."

"You did. But still, I'm sorry."

"I'm just glad that they're soft. Otherwise there might have been vaguely discernable damage."

" _ Kuon _ !" she said with a bit of a whine, recognizing his teasing tone. It was odd, she mused, how easily the name slipped off her tongue, as if she'd known it all along - which, she realized, she probably had on some level.

"Say it again, please?" he murmured, amazed that she was still here, that she could laugh with him again, that she had expressed something impossible and then made it possible.

"Say what?"

"My name. Please."

"... _ Kuon. _ "

He observed her a few moments longer before inquiring, "Would you mind if I held you for a little while? May I?"

She observed him for a moment before reaching over to the table that bore, among other things, the now-forgotten cherries. With a few clicks of the remote, she restarted the movie that had long since finished, and then said with a nod, scooting closer to him, "I think that my heart might be able to handle it now."

The movie flickered on the screen, playing out the story of a girl kept away from what the world could be by someone whom she believed to love her who, after meeting one who kept a false name, saved him just as much as he saved her - if not more.

Kuon once more paid partial attention to the beginning of this movie, unable to pay it full as he was still far too stunned by the fact that Kyoko was still here,  _ with _ him, snuggled under his arm as comfortably as if they'd done this hundreds of times as themselves - and not running for the nearest mountain. "Hey, Kyoko…"

"Mmm?" she tilted her head up towards him, yanking herself out of the double-daze induced by the movie and the man whom, she realized, she could now claim as hers.

She understood what he intended as he bent his head towards hers - it was the same as she had done with the same motion not long before. She knew this - and yet she tilted her head; her eyes slid shut as she raised herself just a few more inches -

Plagioclase was swimming joyous loops around the room -

_ Ring-a-ling-a-ding-dong~! _

Kuon's phone, one of the many objects on the table, unleashed a highly irritating ringtone at just the wrong moment, startling Kyoko into falling backwards. Kuon cursed in English as he reached for the offending device, having recognized the ringtone and knowing better than to attempt to avoid a call this late at night.

" _ What _ ?" he barked, again in English, as Kyoko busied herself with some cherries and gave a poor display of attempting to watch the movie.

Lory's amused voice, also speaking English, blared into the room; in his haste, Kuon had pressed speakerphone. "I call you to warn you of impending danger, and you greet me like that? Brat."

Kyoko let out a squeak, remembering the 'kidnapper' portion of the woeful tale Kuon had spun for her not even two hours previously. There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"It's fine, boss," Kuon replied, switching back to Japanese for Kyoko's benefit. "Say whatever you need to."

"Did you finally confess your undying love for each other, then?" After another embarrassed squeak from Kyoko, Lory continued, "Please tell me you already have."

"What would you say if I said we haven't?"

"Ah, so you have. Congrats, you two. I'll let you be for now, at least." On his end of the line, Lory signalled to Sebastian to start making the proper preparations.

"Wait!" Kyoko yelped, pulling herself back together. "Why did you call, President?"

"Ah, yes! Silly me! I was so pleased by you two finally getting your acts together that I almost forgot!" He cleared his throat. "Kuon, your parents should be arriving in Japan sometime soon. They left earlier today and I do not doubt that they will head straight to you, as I was forced to disclose your address to them. You've been warned." After a chuckle, he added, "So make sure you're both...  _ presentable _ when they arrive. Enjoy your newfound love!" Cackling with undisguised glee, he hung up.

"Should I go?" Kyoko inquired, one hand in her hair. "If your parents are coming, they'll want to see just you, right? Because they haven't seen you in a long time?"

"Stay. Please."

"But -"

"I called them the other night; that's why boss lifted the ban and let them come visit. I… well, you came up in the conversation, and I know that Dad's eager to see you again and that Mom can't wait to meet you. Besides, I…" he gave a shaky laugh. "I need you to be here. Please. I'm terrified, and having you here will help me stay a little more sane."

Kyoko blinked, trying and failing to process this information; eventually, she gave up and simply leaned into his side again, accepting her temporary fate. Kuon, pleased by this, pressed a kiss to the exposed tip of her ear.

Her reaction was as amusing as it was predictable; her head jolted upward, knocking into his. Kuon murmured some apologies, before repeating the action and getting a cushion to the face for his troubles; this resulted in a brief cushion-war that ended with his holding the pillow above his head as she, almost completely on top of him now, squirmed in her attempts to reach it. (The authoress would like the reader to note that there were several points like this that could have turned this tale into smut - that is, if she could write smut, which she cannot, regardless of her sempai's encouragements and numerous suggestions.) It was then that Kyoko was struck by the thought that she really, judging by her personality and everything she had fought against for so long,  _ ought _ to be panicking right now, and set to wondering why she was not. In her wondering, she ceased fighting for the cushion and merely collapsed against him, testing her own limits. After a brief conference with her other selves, it was agreed that she was in something of a shock, and that panic would come when everything had sunk in a bit more. Upon coming to this conclusion, she decided to take advantage of this fact, snuggling closer to Kuon.

The man in question, while greatly confused by Kyoko's sudden switch, did not complain, as he had come to the same conclusion about why this seemed so easy at the moment. Really, one of them ought to be panicking - but then, he mused, they'd experienced so many emotions in the past few hours that they were quite exhausted by the proceedings. Thus, it was understandable that panic would be left for another day - especially if the panic was decent enough to stay away, as panic is usually a heartless jerk who enjoys ruining everything. However, as prolonged contact was permitted, Kuon was not complaining; being able to feel Kyoko's breathing, wonderful in and of itself, also helped to assure him that this was not some elaborate dream. One of his arms drifted up to her back, pulling her a little more atop him and securing her there. She glanced up at him, a smile gracing her lips before she tucked her head into the crook of his neck, forcibly reminding him of the last time they had been in a position similar to this; as her breath skated across his skin, however, he felt his mind go beautifully blank of everything but that simple sensation and the fact that yes, Kyoko was still here and no, she didn't hate him - in fact, just the opposite was true.

Plagioclase was, by this point, the only one paying any attention to the movie - or at least, he would have been, had he even been facing in the direction of the screen. No, he was watching the far longer anticipated love story unfold as the two, taking advantage of the shock, moved perhaps a bit too quickly into one another's comfort, as their movements followed the comfortable patterns of those who have long since been together-together….

"Kyoko?" he whispered, one hand tangled in the hair at the base of her neck.

"Mmm?" she hummed back, intoxicated as much by everything that had just happened as she was by his touch.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Not entirely."

"Should we move, then?"

"No. It's not…  _ un _ comfortable, it's just different. But," she blushed here, surprised by her own boldness, "it's a… a good different. So if you don't mind, I'd… I'd like to stay like this a while longer."

She felt his lips press against the crown of her head, brushing again and again as he murmured, "As you wish."

Plagioclase, for his part, did loop-the-loops in the air once more, as one of his fellow Regioners now owed him a bowl of chocolate pudding, and then floated over to the lightswitch to make it a darkswitch. Neither of the sleepy humans noticed this, as they were too busy noticing one another.

The screen flickered in the new darkness as Kyoko shifted atop her beloved, cracking her neck in the process. "Kuon?"

"Yes, princess?"

"This is what I wished for on that dandelion, that wish I didn't want to tell you - I never dreamed..." she yawned, "that it could ever come true. You were right about the faerie dreams…."

He smiled, not quite sure if he  _ could _ respond to something as wonderful as that.

She yawned again and then, slipping off into dreamland, murmured, "You smell like fairyland…" A soft laugh slipped from between her lips. "No… fairyland smells like  _ you. _ "

"Magikarp," he whispered back, pulling the blanket off of the back of his couch over the pair of them, glad that he had indulged that prior fantasy… especially now that his wildest fantasy was now a reality.

And so the pair of them drifted off to sleep like that, unaware of the new trial that would come in less than an hour's time.

**AND CHAPTER CUT!**

***whew* Finally, am I right? Too long, far too long of a wait. BUT HEY. FLUFF. BE HAPPY (and do not expect quick updates).**


	12. How Can This Fairytale End?

**I might write another section of it, but if I do, it will be posted as a separate story. For now, this fic is complete. Please enjoy this, even though I still don't own Skip Beat!**

Kuon's first conscious notion was that he had no desire to ever move again. His second, more realistic notion, was that he would have to move very soon, as the entirety of his left leg - from his hip socket down to his toes - seemed to have been taken over by furious bumblebees protesting the actions of a bull. His attempts to shift to assuage the bees' ire was stilled by a soft "mhn" sound. His eyes flickered open to see an absolute mess of chestnut hair mere inches from his nose. After his initial confusion, the events of what seemed to be (judging by the credit scroll of the movie) scarcely an hour previous to this moment swarmed back into his head.

The thought that she had stayed after hearing all he had to say was astounding - and the current scene was something he had thought could only exist in his fantasies. Perhaps, he mused, the bees would not mind if he remained like this for some short while longer, even if the blanket he had draped over them earlier was now in a pile on the floor. Kyoko fidgeted a little, causing one of her socks to droop slightly and bringing the fact that she was not wearing house slippers to Kuon's attention. He would have puzzled over this fact for a little longer - as Kyoko usually wore house slippers when visiting him, and he had made a mental note to set out the castle-themed ones for her today - had several things not happened in quick succession.

First, Plagioclase snapped to attention.

Second, the scrape of a key in the lock of Kuon's front door sounded throughout the apartment, noticeable due only to the near-silent ending screen of the movie.

Third, the door burst open with a sound like a marching band, causing Kuon to fully wake up with a nasty jolt.

Fourth, Kuu and Julie Hizuri came bursting into the apartment, Kuu's phone blaring "Sweet Child of Mine" at top volume and Julie calling for her baby boy. Plagioclase noted that, while the song was good for comedic effect, it really had very little to do with parental love. Having noted this, he floated away to a spot where he could begin phasing into a different reality, for his work here was done; he had seen and helped all the humans he was meant to assist in this particular universe. Perhaps next he could go to one where monsters bled rose petals… but first, he would observe the actions here a while longer.

Fifth, amazingly, Kyoko remained asleep - perhaps due to her many years of living in places frequented by late-night drunken customers - and shoved her nose into the crook of Kuon's neck. He would have laughed had he not been attempting to sit up without disturbing her; his father's voice boomed through the apartment, rendering the hum of the television inaudible.

"Where's my baby boy?"

His mother's followed, a moment after, "Kuon! Come give me a hug!"

His mouth opened, but no words came out; what do you say to someone when seeing them properly for the first time in five years? He closed his mouth and wrapped his left arm more firmly around Kyoko's waist, holding her to him while he used his other arm to shift into a seated position. She gave a sleepy groan of protest before smushing her nose against his chest and muttering something indiscernible. His parents' footsteps, on their way to his bedroom, stopped abruptly when Juliena registered the movement in her peripheral vision. She whipped around, making eye contact with a very messy-haired Kuon, whose mouth was suddenly a desert. Kuu turned around more leisurely, beaming when he saw the scene before him.

_ Told you _ , he mouthed.

The younger of the two men offered an awkward smile before attempting to extricate himself from beneath Kyoko - only to have her finally wake up with a shout.

"FISHMUG!" She sat up suddenly, her neck giving off a loud crack and her hair flying everywhere in fluffs as she lost her balance; Kuon caught her with the arm still loosely around her waist, tugging her back against his chest. Her hands found his chest and she pushed back so she could see his face.

"Fish mug?" he inquired, amused.

"Fishmug," she affirmed, her expression quite grave. "Sir Fishmug of the Seelie Court of the faeries, to be exact. He serves the vegetable prince and is ever loyal to the faerie queen."

"The faerie queen?" (Kuon would learn, in the coming years, that yelling a random phrase was a common way for Kyoko to awaken from REM sleep. His favorites would include "so much purple syrup" and "oranges ate the platypus.") His mother laughed, and Kyoko turned towards the sound as she answered him.

"Yes, the fairy queen -" her eyes went wide, observing the woman on the other side of the couch, backlit as she was by the light by the front door, face glowing with laughter and joy over seeing her son again, and  _ happy _ , after so long. The youngest human's voice became hushed: "...Titania."

"Hi, Mom, Dad." Kuon gave an awkward little wave as he helped a stunned Kyoko slip onto a couch cushion and stood up, his leg shaking a bit from the bumblebees within. "Dad, you already know her - Mom, this is Kyoko. I mentioned her on the phone. And Kyoko, this is -" he paused; she had grabbed ahold of his sleeve, still staring at Juliena, her voice growing weaker and higher as her sentence continued.

"Kuon… the faerie queen… Titania… she's… I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

Kuu stepped into the light, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders. "Unless we're all still asleep, I'm pretty sure you're awake, kiddo. Now don't you at least have a hello for your father?"

"F-Father… you're married to the faerie queen?" She blinked rapidly, turning to Kuon. "Your mother is  _ Titania _ ?"

"No, but you're close. It's  _ Juliena _ , actually," the pseudo-faerie in question replied, offering a hand to shake. "Thank you for getting my baby boy to return to me."

"I… you're w-welcome?" a highly confused Kyoko replied, raising a shaky hand to meet Juliena's; the older woman's fingers were long and incredibly warm against Kyoko's suddenly clammy palm. While the two were making this awkward acquaintance, Kuu walked around the end of the couch to embrace his son.

"I'm glad to see you as you again, Kuon."

"I missed you too, Dad," he mumbled, noting with some degree of shock that their lines of sight were now nearly identical; time had changed some things - but not all, as his mother proved in the next moment.

"My turn!" Juliena exclaimed, having relinquished Kyoko's hand and squeezing between the two men to make a Juliena sandwich. Kyoko watched, the corners of her lips tilting upwards, an odd sense of loneliness preventing their full parting. It was at this point that she felt a large hand grip her elbow and pull her into the group; she looked up into her honorary father's face to see him beaming.

"F-Father…?"

"You're my kid, too, so hug me when you see me!"

She nodded and leaned forward, shielding her tired eyes in the green cotton fabric of his shirt. Such territory - inclusion in a happy family - was one entirely unprecedented for her; even back at the ryokan, she had always been more on the outskirts. Yet Father had taken her under his wing so easily, Kuon had dragged her headfirst into this loving mess, and Juliena - Juliena, the woman so easily mistaken for the fairy queen Titania, the woman whom she had only just met - had just placed a kiss on the top of her head. Kyoko was glad of the emotions of the blood family's reunion, for they allowed her tears to flow unquestioned, soaked up as they were by Father's shirt; even Kuon did not notice, distracted as he was by the sudden skinship after going so long without it.

Eventually, the group broke apart, and Kyoko bowed herself out to go whip up something for Kuu to eat, correctly guessing that he was hungry. Juliena volunteered to help, but Kyoko insisted that she spend some time with her son, so a kitchen crisis was avoided. Upon entering the kitchen, Kyoko sought out a spot in which she could not be seen by the others. She stood there, quite still, with the heels of her palms pressed against her eyes as she willed herself to remain calm in this entirely foreign situation. Her characters fluttered about in the Kyoko Meeting Room, mostly unhelpful to their internally flailing mistress. After a few moments passed, she removed her hands from her face, observing their trembling and willing them to become steady enough to cook something. Perhaps in that way she could distract her panicked mind.

Kuon's laughter, soft and low, seeped through the kitchen, wrapping around Kyoko like a crocheted blanket and allowing her to breathe. Her eyes flickered open, and she dropped her hands to her sides, ready to begin her self-assigned task. The rhythm of the kitchen that was more hers than Kuon's thrummed as she stepped forward, enveloping her as the chopping of her knife calmed her nerves. She could do this; she could function in this environment - in something akin to a family, if they would allow her to try. Yes, it would take time… but she would learn how to thrive.

Voices drifted in from the living room; Kuon was catching his parents up on all that he had been doing since he left them, and apologizing endlessly for the way in which he left them. In turn, they told him their tales and apologized for their inability to see the truth of what had been occurring. At least, that is what she figured they were saying, from the varying pitches of their voices and a few snippets of conversation; she was a bit too far away for most of their words to reach her. The clack of her knife and the sizzle of the frypan created further audio obstacles. Snippets of conversation floated over the ruckus, slipping into her ears and making themselves known to her mind.

"You've been eating well?"

"Exceptionally well. Particularly whenever I'm around Kyoko - she has a working appetite, so I generally eat when she eats."

"Good job, little sprite!" Juliena called, a little louder to ensure that Kyoko could hear her.

Kyoko paused in her actions long enough to poke her hand around the corner to wave; she would have said something, but was uncertain if she could talk at the moment. Titania had just called her a sprite - as if to imply that she were a member of the fairy court. Maybe… just maybe… Titania would let her stay? The queen seemed to like her already, which was odd enough on its own - to have someone like her accept someone like… well, like  _ her _ so willingly. Had it not been for the okamisan of Darumaya, she would have thought such a thing to be unprecedented. Now, however, it seemed slightly possible… after all, there were people around her now that  _ loved _ her. It would be… ridiculous to suggest that Titania might hate her immediately, especially with the contrary evidence. And wasn't a kiss on the head better, even, than a pat on the head?

Her hands busied themselves again, finishing the stir-fry, as she tried and failed to bite back a smile.  _ Maybe, just maybe… I might have a family now. Maybe. _

And 'maybe' was more than good enough for a girl who had thought that her forever would be 'never.'

"It's ready!" Kuu exclaimed, jumping up at the sound of one of Kyoko's many timers - the one in question was shaped like Bo, the result of one of Kuon's midnight online shopping sprees for cute kitchen things for Kyoko to use when she came over (as Kuon is Kuon and therefore is a dorky sap). He bounded into the kitchen, nearly crashing into Kyoko, who was carrying a hefty bowl filled to the brim with stir-fry. "Ah, let me get that!"

"It's fine, I've got it, it's -" But the bowl was taken from her hands, only to be rushed over to the table with an anguished cry of "Hot, hot,  _ hot! _ "

Juliena laughed, pressing kisses to Kuu's palms once he had placed the bowl on the table. "Silly," she murmured, tired lashes touching her cheeks.

Standing up, Kuon followed Kyoko back to the kitchen. "What should I carry out?"

"Can you get the rice bowl? I made enough for the three of us  _ and _ Father, too, so…."

"So it's heavy. Gotcha." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, revelling in the fact that he could do that now, before turning to pick up the rice bowl. "Sorry to leave you to making this all alone."

Kyoko's voice was unusually high when she replied, "Oh, it was n-no problem! None at all!"

He turned, the surprisingly heavy rice bowl in his hands, to see a brilliantly red Kyoko rubbing the top of her head where he had kissed her. He grinned, his teeth scraping his bottom lip, and turned to take the rice out to the living room.

"Kuon…"

He turned back, concerned by the softness of her voice. Had that been too forward, somehow? "Yeah?"

"Are head kisses…  _ normal _ … in your family?" Her gaze was focused on the napkins; she was folding them into swans. "Like… do your parents kiss your head, ever? Or kiss each other on the head?"

He set the rice bowl back on the table and took a few steps to close the distance between them, tilting her head up so he could meet her eyes, and nodded. He tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, marvelling at this closeness, about this casual intimacy. "Mom and Dad are really physically affectionate people. Hugs, kisses - all of that - it's par for the course with them, with people they care about, so I guess I inherited that, too." He bit his lip, something else occurring to him. "I can tone it down if you're not ready for it."

"N-No, I like it, it's just - different." She folded another swan, cheeks red, before continuing. "I'm just… not used to it. I guess… I don't know how a family feels."

He observed her for a moment longer as she finished folding the last swan, and then picked up the rice bowl once more. "Well, would you like to learn?"

Her teeth worried her lower lip as she gathered the plates, cutlery, and napkin swans. When she looked up at him at last, her voice was quite small. "Could I?"

A soft smile slid across his face as he replied, "Definitely."

Their meal did not initially go quite as smoothly as Kuon had hoped. At his side, Kyoko was nearly a statue, she was so nervous. He supposed that this was to be expected; after all, she was dining with someone she considered to be a faerie queen. His father, for his part, was wolfing down stir-fry at an almost alarming rate.

"Pass the salt, please," he said around giant mouthfuls of vegetables.

Both Kyoko and Kuon reached for the salt, knocking it over and onto Juliena's plate, causing her to yelp. Kyoko, naturally, began apologizing excessively, bowing and bonking her head against the table in her fervor. This incident led to what was perhaps the most confusing reaction thus far for Plagioclase's favorite actress.

"Sweetie, no! Stop!" Julie's hand was quite suddenly under Kyoko's forehead, pulling the girl back into an upright position. "Oh, no, that looks like it's going to bruise. Hold on, let me kiss it better." And so she raised herself onto her knees and placed a kiss on Kyoko's forehead, leaving a dusty rose lip print there, before bouncing back onto her heels. "There! How does it feel?"

"B-Better?" Kyoko sputtered, blinking rapidly. "But your food -"

"Pish-posh, little sprite. There's only one of you, and enough food for even my adorable fool to feel full - and if there wasn't, you're far more important than some silly sustenance anyway, no matter how good it tastes."

"B-But?"  _ But you're Titania, the faerie queen! I'm just a clumsy mortal, and I ruined your food! _

"No buts! You are my child. I am your mom now, and so I shall care the hell out of you. This is non-negotiable." She nodded, as if this settled the matter, and continued eating her now-salty food. Kuon, sweeping stray salt off the table and into his napkin, mused that his mother most likely could not discern the addition of such a trace amount of salt.

"But -" Kyoko attempted to continue, only to be cut off by Kuu's hand on her shoulder.

"Listen to your mom, kiddo."

"My...mom?" Kyoko whispered, the word foreign in her mouth. She had always had a mother, but never a mom. The distinction had never struck her quite so clearly as it did in that moment. "My...mom," she repeated, ducking her head and applying herself to her food.

"Why," Julie demanded, pointing an accusing pair of chopsticks at Kuu, "did you not warn me that our daughter is this cute?"

The man in question paused in his wolfing down of stir-fry long enough to raise an eyebrow and reply, "I thought I had."

"To be fair," Kuon interjected, taking a sip of water, "Kyoko is often far too adorable for words."

"Magikarp," Kyoko mumbled into her stir-fry, her face glowing brightly enough for Julie's lip print to be entirely camouflaged. At the confused expressions on his parents' faces, Kuon took the opportunity to explain her usage of the Pokemon's name. The sound of their laughter echoed around his apartment, ringing in Kyoko's ears and filling the part of Kuon's insides that had been devoid of anything for so long.

Some short amount of time later, the bowl of stir-fry had been emptied, and the four of them retreated to more comfortable seating, sprawling on the furniture with full (or, in Kuu's case, nearly full) stomachs. Julie's fingers traced lazy patterns through Kuu's hair; Kyoko fought to keep her eyes open as it was, after all, very late, and she had taken a wild ride on the emotional roller coaster mere hours beforehand. Soft light crept throughout the room, emanating from the few lamps scattered on side tables. This same light danced across her hair, illuminating the dark strands peeking through her dye like so many shards of obsidian. Kuon's arm draped itself across her shoulders, tugging her up against his side; she willingly leaned into him, too exhausted to be embarrassed. In the interest of catching up with his parents after so long, Kuon had requested stories of their everyday lives; eager to reconnect, Julie was regaling them with tales of the people with whom they interacted. To Kyoko, in her half-conscious state, the stories seemed to have been ripped out of some sort of faerieland.

"...and my stylist, Marianne - she's a gem, you'd adore her - she's undergone a bit of a rough patch lately, switching her pursuits because of her unfortunate ex, but things are looking up now! That girl can do magic with a brush, though from the look of her you'd think she's more suited to a sword. I introduced her to my favorite photographer - do you remember Bog, Kuon? - and the two really hit it off, quite literally. They half-killed each other, but I caught them making out behind one of the sets the other day. The rest of their story's so cute - they both had rough spots, but they're helping each other learn to love their crafts again. I'm just glad I get to watch it play out!"

"You sound like Boss," Kuon chuckled, his fingers stroking through Kyoko's amber and obsidian strands.

"Well, where do you think that old coot gets some of his best ideas?" There was a trill in her voice, an underlying tune that Kuu had not heard in years. Kyoko heard this with the aid of lala land, translating her words into the faerie language, singing tales of olden worlds. The song tickled something in the back of her mind, stirring her thoughts and dancing them back to an old conversation….

Kuon startled as Kyoko reached up and slipped his hand out of her hair, holding it up in front of her eyes to observe it. Her brow furrowed as she traced it, measuring the bones and muscles with her fingers; shaking off his arm, she stood and walked over to Kuu, stepping over the blanket they had neglected to remove from the floor earlier. Her honorary father tilted his head a bit in confusion but permitted her to take his hand in hers and perform the same measurements, watching the line between her eyebrows deepen as her fingers skated over his skin. After a few moments, a light shone behind her tired eyes; she dropped his hand and spun on her heel to face Kuon, but tripped over the blanket. He caught her before she could fall completely, and it was as she looked up at him that she said, a breathless grin spreading across her face, "Kuon! Kuon, Father's hands aren't too big anymore! Yours are the same size as his - y-you can  _ fly _ ! His fingers won't shred your wings!"

"Are they really?" he breathed.

"Yes - they're within an eighth of an inch of each other!" She caught his wrist and tugged him over to his father, not bothering to stand up all the way, and placed his hand against the elder man's. As she had said, they were nearly identical in size. "See?"

Kuon nodded, at a loss for words. He knew that the physical size of their hands were far from the point Kyoko was trying to make, even if she did not; he bit his lip to prevent the smile that begged to bloom from blinding her.

"Um," a bemused Kuu interjected, "as proud as I am that my wonderful son has grown up to be such a fine young man, may I ask what exactly is going on?"

"We… well, do you remember the trip we took to Kyoto when I was about ten?" his son replied, shifting back onto the couch, tugging Kyoko with him.

The married couple nodded, shifting closer together for what was certain to be an entertaining tale.

"D'you remember how I kept wandering off while you were filming, and then coming back at odd times?" At his father's nod, he continued, "Well, a certain  _ someone _ happened to be living at a ryokan not far from there, and managed to mistake me for a faerie. She was so adorable that I couldn't bring myself to shatter her illusion, and as she had no idea who I was, I was content to play along." Kyoko, a bit pink-cheeked now, buried her face against his shoulder. "She hadn't heard my name right, so I was Prince Corn. We traded troubles, and… well, I talked about trying to make it in acting, but how the directors always expected me to act with more experience than I could. Hence, the hands that tore my wings - a metaphor dipped in faerie dust."

"You two are just  _ trying _ to kill me with how cute you are, aren't you?" Julie demanded, raising an eyebrow.

" _ I'm _ not the one who continued the metaphor," Kuon muttered, his own cheeks colored now.

Julie's gaze turned to Kyoko. "Murderous wench," she said fondly, leaning across the space between them to ruffle the younger girl's hair and press another kiss to her scalp. Laughter bubbled in her throat at the surprise evident on Kyoko's face. "You really are trying to kill me."

"What - no! Never!" She insisted, her hands flailing about madly in the air. "I would never try to do that! You're Titania, the faerie queen! And Kuon's mom! And -"

"And yours," Julie added, smiling. "Be calm, my endearing elf. I was just teasing!"

"Oh."

"You'll get used to it pretty soon," Kuu cut in. "My beautiful wife teases everyone she loves."

Kyoko's only response was to turn brilliantly red.

A short while and many embarrassing stories about Kuon's childhood later, they group decided that it was time to retire for the night. Let it be a testament to Kyoko's level of exhaustion that she did not argue much with Kuon's suggestion for her to take his bed, while he and his parents used the two in the guest room. He chuckled, observing from the doorway as she crawled beneath his sheets and was soon asleep, and then made his way towards the room he now usually considered to be hers. His parents, now that the excitement had ended, had given in to their jet lag and collapsed onto one of the beds, cuddled up in their sleep. He turned off the lamp with a soft click, not even bothering to change into pajamas before sliding underneath the blanket of the remaining bed. Dreams came swiftly to him, most of which were tinted by the events of the day… and in all of them, his princess charming came flying to his rescue.

Plagioclase, observing from a distance as he continued to shift into the next dimension, hummed with contentment. Perhaps the next time of happiness was not quite so far off as one had hoped.

Yashiro hovered in the hallway in front of Ren's door, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. He was once again faced with a dilemma: Should he enter and potentially interrupt an intimate moment, or should he not enter and make Ren very late to work?

After several long moments of indecision, he admitted that the professional path must be the one he followed, and so raised his fist to the door and knocked several times. There was some commotion within, but no one answered his socially accepted summoning method. Fearing something horrible - a break-in, perhaps - he drew out his emergency key and entered the apartment. The metal scraped in the lock, clicking past the tumblers within to permit him entrance; the door swung open, a peal of laughter crashing over his ears. Bemused, he stepped inside, shutting the door behind him and changing into house slippers. His feet made little sound on the hardwood floor leading to the kitchen. When he stepped into view of the kitchen, he was met by a very odd sight.

The kitchen was in a state of chaos. For reasons unfathomable to poor Yukihito, Kuu and Juliena Hizuri -  _ the _ Hizuris - seemed to be having a food fight with Ren and Kyoko. Kuu dashed about madly, trying to catch all of the food in his mouth; Juliena giggled as she tossed food in the opposite direction, just to watch her husband chase after it like a golden retriever. Ren was laughing outright at the scene, an arm slung oh-so-casually around Kyoko's shoulders, the girl in question looking a bit bemused by the antics. Before the manager could properly appreciate the sailing of his ship, some scrambled eggs - flung by  _ Ren _ of all people - landed on his glasses. This was a bit much for poor Yukihito, who took that moment to look to the dear reader in an appeal for help with comprehending this insanity.

Kuon, noticing his manager's plight, waved him into the kitchen. "Come on in. I've got a lot of explaining to do."

But then, Plagioclase noted, the reader is already aware of that tale, having just read it in its entirety. With a wave of his own tail, Plagioclase shifted into the next dimension, wishing the beloved reader the best of luck in finding another love story quite so entertaining as that of the fairy princess and her prince.

**There you have it! Thank you all for sticking with me for so long, especially as this was supposed to be a one-shot. I hope to see you all again soon, and please drop me a review below to let me know what you thought of the fic!**


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